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THE  GIFT  OF 

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RAMBLES  IN  EUROPE: 

Iq  Ii^elaqd,  Scotland,  England,  Belginni,  (Jei^iganJ, 
^Witzei'Iand,  and  France, 

WITH   HISTORICAL  FACTS   RELATING  TO 

SCOTCH-AMERICAN  FAMILIES. 


GATHERED    IN 


Scotland  and  the  North  of  Ireland. 


BY 

LEONARD   A.  MORRISON,  A.  M., 

AUTHOR   OF   "history   OF   THE    MORISON    OR    MORRISON    FAMILY;"" 
"history   of   WINDHAM    IN    NEW    HAMPSHIRE." 


ILL  USTRA  TED. 


BOSTON,  MASS.: 
PUBLISHED  BY  CUPPLES,  UPHAM  &  CO. 


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Copyright. 
By  Leonard  A.  Morrison. 


All  Rights  Reserved. 


PRINTED    BY   THE    REPUBLICAN    PRESS   ASSOCIATION, 
CONCORD,    N.    H. 


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This  work  is  largely  a  personal  narrative,  which 
has  been  prepared  in  the  spare  hours  of  a  busy  life. 
Its    object  is  to  tell   of  countries   visited    during   the 
ramblings  of  five  months,  of  people  seen,  of  their  cus- 
toms and  thoughts,  their  systems  of  government,  and 
the  influence  of  those  governments  upon  the  people. 
It  is  to  speak  of  friendships  formed,  of  persons  absent 
from  me,  but  who  in  spirit  will  abide  with  me  forever. 
In  these  wanderings  I  have  spoken  of  men,  institu- 
tions, places,  and  events  as  they  impressed  me.     My 
mission  was  semi-historical.     My  experiences  in  Ire- 
land, Scotland,  and  England  have  been  largely  given. 
This  is  especially  true  of  my  tour  through  the  orig- 
inal Scotch  setdements  in   Ireland,  and   also   of  my 
journey  in  Scotland.     Much  historical  matter  relating 
to    Scotch-American    families    has    been    purposely 
woven  into  the  narrative.     The  subject  has  been  a 
favorite  theme  :  over  it  my  pen  loves  to  linger.     To 
those   places  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea  my  mind 
reverts  as  do  the  thoughts  of  a  wanderer  to  his  early 
home. 

Much  of  the  journey  wa*  over  ground  visited  by 
numerous  travellers,  whose  adventures  have  been 
rehearsed  in  many  books.  No  two  persons  have  the 
same  experience,  nor  do  they  see  with  the  same  eyes. 
The  kaleidoscopic  view  changes  with  every  tourist. 
I  saw  with  American  eyes,  and  judged  with  a  judg- 
ment which  is  my  own,  and  endeavored  at  all  times 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

to  be  impartial,  "with  malice  toward  none,  and  with 
charity  for  all."  It  is  my  hope  that  the  reader  may  be 
able  to  appropriate  some  kernels  of  the  grain  which 
I  have  gathered  from  the  oft-gleaned  fields. 

Other  portions  of  the  journey  were  on  less  frequented 
routes  of  travel,  and  it  is  my  wish  that  the  descriptions 
of  the  same  may  be  of  interest  and  value. 

The  smaller  illustrations  for  this  work  have  been 
sketched  by  C.  H.  Dinsmoor  and  L.  J.  Bridgman. 
Those  who  took  so  kindly  an  interest  in  my  mission 
to  the  Old  World  have  my  sincere  thanks. 

While  this  book  is  written  largely  for  my  own 
pleasure,  it  is  also  prepared  with  the  hope  that  others 
may  derive  profit  from  its  perusal.  This,  with  other 
writings,  cannot  bring  me  much  pecuniary  profit,  nor 
the  laudation  of  men  ;  but  they  have  brought  a  better 
compensation  in  the  new  avenues  of  enjoyment  which 
they  have  unfolded,  and  in  the  fascination  which  they 
have  thrown  around  my  leisure  hours.  They  have 
brought  me  many  congenial  spirits  for  companions, 
whom  to  know  is  to  love,  and  to  be  understood  by 
them  is  to  be  greatly  blest.  The  pleasures  of  life 
have  been  increased.  Its  channel  has  been  broad- 
ened and  deepened.  Its  skies  are  brighter,  and  life  is 
made  worth  living.  As  I  have  received  so  much  from 
others,  the  thought  that  I  may  be  able  to  return  some- 
thing for  the  pleasure  and  profit  of  those  about  me 
affords  me  the  liveliest  satisfaction. 

L.   A.   M. 

Windham,  N.  H. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Leonard  A.  Morrison Frontispiece. 

"The  Early  Home" faces  page  i6 

Blarney  Castle .     .     .  35 

Irish  Jaunting-Car 38 

MucKRoss  Abbey 39 

Eagle's  Nest,  at  Lakes  of  Killarney  ...  40 

Ancient  Round  Tower 49 

Londonderry,  Ireland 53 

Birthplace  of  Burns 99 

Alloway  Kirk 102 

AuLD  Brig  o'  Doon 103 

Burns's  Monument 105 

Glasgow  Cathedral      - 109 

Dumbarton  Castle 120 

Linlithgow  Castle 124 

Edinburgh  Castle 128 

Scott's  Monument 130 

Palace  of  Holyrood 133 

Old  Tombs  :  Grey  Friars  Churchyard  .     .     .  137 

Home  of  Walter  Scott  at  Abbotsford    .     .  143 

Millholm  Cross 156 

Hollows  Tower 159 

Armstrong  Arms 162 

Cannobie 163 

Stirling  Castle 178 

View  of  Stornoway 197 

MoRisoN  Arms 201 

Druidical  Stones  at  Callernish 206 

Cottage  and  Pictish  Tower 210 

Ben  Lomond  and  Loch  Lomond      .     .      faces  page  227 

Ellen's  Isle,  Loch  Katrine 231 

The  Trossachs 232 

Battlefield  of  Bannockburn 234 

William  Wordsworth 239 

Grasmere  Church 241 

Nelson's  Monument,  London 251 


8  LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Westminster  Abbey faces  page  261 

Henry  VII's  Chapel,  Westminster  Abbey     .         263 

Coronation  Chair 263 

Effigy  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots 264 

Oliver  Cromwell 265 

Tower  of  London 276 

Caxton's  Printing  Press 282 

Cleopatra's  Needle 283 

William  E.  Gladstone 291 

Mound  at  Waterloo 300 

On  the  Rhine faces  page  307 

Fortress  of  Ehrenbreitstein 308 

BiNGEN  on  the  Rhine 310 

Heidelberg 312 

The  Great  Tun 314 

Falls  in  the  Alps faces  page  317 

The  Tower 3^8 

The  Great  Aletsch  Glacier    .     .     .      faces  page  319 

Lucerne .     .     .         320 

In  the  Swiss  Mountains faces  page  321 

Lion  of  Lucerne 321 

Fluelen 322 

Swiss  Cottage  and  Mountains 324 

Thun faces  page  327 

Night  in  the  Alps 327 

Berne faces  page  329 

Geneva 330 

In  the  Alps faces  page  33 1 

Notre  Dame faces  page  333 

Place  de  la  Concorde faces  page  335 

Arc  de  Triomphe  and  Champs-Elysbes  faces  page  335 

New  Opera  House,  Paris 336 

Napoleon's  Sarcophagus 338 

Western  FAgADE  of  the  Louvre  .     .      faces  page  339 
Palais  Royal  and  Gardens  ....      faces  page  341 

Colonne  de  Juillet 342 

Church  of  the  Madeline      ....      faces  page  343 
Palace  and  Gardens  of  Versailles       faces  page  345 

Shakespeare's  Birthplace 348 

Hathaway  Cottage 348 

Stratford-on-Avon 349 

Shakespeare's  Monument 349 

Chester 350 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PREFATORY.— (Pages  1-16.) 

Dedication.  List  of  Illustrations.  Introduction.  Table  of  Con- 
tents. 

CHAPTER    I.— (Pages    17-31.) 

LEAVING  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  early  home,  17.  The  dream  of  childhood,  18.  The  hope 
realized,  the  letter  of  credit,  the  ship,  19.  The  departure,  cele- 
bration in  New  York,  20.  Bon  voyage,  countries  visited,  21.  A 
wilderness  of  waters,  22.  Monotony  of  the  voyage,  23.  Ocean 
tramps,  different  classes  of  passengers,  24.  Cabin  passengers, 
Mr.  Jones,  25.  Mr.  Jones  commands  respect,  26.  Meeting  ves- 
sels, a  storm  at  sea,  27.  The  night's  great  darkness,  28.  Sab- 
bath services,  29.  In  sight  of  land,  Fastenet  Light,  30.  Landing 
at  Queenstown,  31. 

CHAPTER  II.— (Pages  32-52.) 

IRELAND. 

Queenstown,  32.  Care  of  luggage,  33.  On  the  river  Lee,  the  city 
of  Cork,  34.  Those  Shandon  bells.  Blarney  castle,  35.  Groves 
of  Blarney,  36.  Killarney,  37.  Estates  of  Mr.  Herbert,  Earl  of 
Kenmore,  the  Irish  jaunting  car,  38.  Muckross  abbey,  graves  of 
the  O'Sullivans,  McCarthys,  and  Herberts,  39.  Lakes  of  Killar- 
ney, 40.  Cromwell's  bridge,  41.  Market  day  at  Killarney,  42. 
Irish  cabins,  43.  A  devout  Irishman,  price  of  women's  labor, 
-two  classes  in  Ireland,  44.  Railway  carriages,  unpleasant  com- 
panions in  a  third  class  carriage,  45.  At  Mallow,  Irish  pedigrees, 
46.  Irish  wit,  47.  Remarkable  ruins,  "  Devil's  bit,"  48.  Round 
Tower,  Dublin,  Trinity  college,  49.  Phenix  park,  Public  Records 
office,  50.  Official  discourtesy,  51.  The  "  1649"  officers,  Scotch 
names  on  records,  52. 


lO  TABLE    OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  III.— (Pages  53-93.) 

IRELAND,  CONTINUED. 

Londonderry,  53.  Aghadowey,  the  home  of  Rev.  James  McGregor 
and  many  of  the  settlers  of  Londonderry,  N.  H.,  54.  Scotch 
patronymics,  55.  Battle  of  the  Boyne,  Mr.  Hewitt,  Lord  Lifford, 
56.  City  of  Londonderry,  57.  Its  interesting  objects,  meeting  a 
descendant  of  James  Morrison  of  the  siege  of  i688-'89,  Walker 
monument,  58.  The  broken  boom,  Magee  college,  the  obliging 
attendant,  59.  Interview  with  Bishop  Alexander,  Mrs.  Alexan- 
der, 60.  Home  of  the  poet,  61.  The  famous  cathedral  and  its 
relics,  62.  Records  of  the  cathedral,  familiar  names  and  genea- 
logical difficulties,  63.  Family  records  not  kept,  communication 
from  Board  of  Trade,  64.  The  cemetery,  65.  Hon.  Arthur  Liv- 
ermore,  U.  S.  consul,  66.  The  ludicrous  court,  67.  St.  Patrick's 
day,  68.  Enniskillen,  ruins  of  Devenish  island,  69.  The  Morri- 
sons, Rev.  Mr.  Cochran,  Donegal,  Barnesmore  gap,  71.  Family 
of  Park,  72.  Last  glimpse  of  Londonderry,  Castle  Rock,  Rev. 
James  Armstrong,  73.  Green  castle,  Coleraine,  74.  The  Dins- 
moors,  75.  The  Pattersons,  Aghadowey,  the  old  home  of  Lon- 
donderry, N.  H.,  settlers,  76.  The  Nesmiths,  the  Cochrans,  tt- 
The  Morrisons,  the  Caldwells,  78.  Familiar  names  in  the  Scotch 
settlements,  entertained  by  William  Morrison  and  Hugh  R.  Mor- 
rison, 79.  Ancient  earthworks,  80.  Giant's  Causeway,  81-83. 
Sixty  miles  by  jaunting  car,  Carrick-a-Rede,  84.  County  of  An- 
trim, 85.  Belfast,  86.  Landlordism,  87.  Home  of  William  E. 
Armstrong,  88.  Demolished  cabins,  89.  Two  classes,  90.  Love 
for  Americans,  91.     Home  Rule,  92.     Farewell  to  Ireland,  93. 

CHAPTER  IV.— (Pages  94-125.) 

SCOTLAND. 

Emigrants  to  Ireland  in  1641,  95.  Ruins  of  Castle  Kennedy,  96. 
A  pack  of  hounds,  97.  Hounds  and  race  horses  in  England,  98. 
Birthplace  of  Burns,  99.  His  genius,  100.  Tam  O'Shanter  inn, 
loi.  Alloway  kirk,  102.  Auld  Brig  o' Doon,  103.  The  niece  of 
Burns,  104.  European  toilers,  105.  Auchenleck,  first  home  of 
the  Cochrans,  106.  Glasgow,  107.  Management  of  railways,  108. 
Improvements  of  the  Clyde,  the  cathedral,  109.  Religion  and 
patriotism,  no.  The  crypt,  in.  A  Scotch  audience,  112.  The 
Necropolis,  Bridge  of  Sighs,  Michael  Simons,  113.  Botanic  Gar- 
dens, libraries,   114.     Rev.  Donald  Morrison,  surnames,  Gallow 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS.  II 

gate,  115.    Paisley,  116.    Robert  Tannahill,  117.    Gifted  authors, 

118.  Home  of  Sir  William  Wallace,   ship  yards  on  the  Clyde, 

119.  Dumbarton  castle,  Greenock,  120.  The  dross  burned  away, 
121.  Grave  of  "  Highland  Mary,"  122.  Home  of  the  Nesmiths, 
123.     Linlithgow  castle,  124.     The  Roman  wall,  125. 

CHAPTER  v.— (Pages   126-141.) 

EDINBURGH,    THE    QUEEN    CITY. 

Reaching  Edinburgh,  126.  In  apartments,  127.  The  castle,  128. 
Scotland's  regalia,  Princes  Street  Gardens,  129.  The  vanished 
lake,  Scott's  monument,  Calton  Hill,  130.  Heart  of  Midlothian, 
the  university,  subscribing  to  the  covenant,  131.  Libraries,  graves 
of  John  Knox  and  of  Thomas  Chalmers,  132.  Grave  of  Hugh 
Miller,  Arthur's  Seat,  133.  Holyrood  palace,  134.  The  Canon- 
gate,  curious  wynds,  135.  Former  homes  of  illustrious  families, 
136.  House  of  John  Knox,  Grey  Friars  church,  martyrs  of  the 
covenant,  137.  Capt.  F.  W.  L.  Thomas,  R.  N.,  pleasant  remi- 
niscences, 138.  Oscar  Malmross.U.  S.  consul.  Dean  bridge.  Gen- 
eral Register  House,  139.  Difficulty  in  consulting  records,  140. 
Farewell  to  Edinburgh,  141. 

CHAPTER  VI.— (Pages  142-170.) 

THE    DEBATABLE    LAND. 

Home  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  143.  Arms  of  border  families,  144. 
Clan  Scott,  145.  Melrose,  146.  Melrose  abbey,  the  heart  of 
Bruce,  147.  Reverence  for  royalty,  148,  149.  Scott's  regard  for 
royalty,  150.  Dryburgh  abbey,  grave  of  Scott,  clan  Maxwell,  151. 
Clans  Chisholm,  Turnbull,  and  Armstrong,  152.  Antiquity  of 
the  Armstrongs,  153.  Lands  granted  to  Lancelot  Armstrong, 
home  of  Gilnockie  Armstrong,  154.  In  the  Debatable  Country, 
cemetery  at  Castleton,  155.  Millholm  cross,  156.  Ettleton  cem- 
etery, Kershopfoot,  and  Langholm,  157.  Castle  of  Gilnockie 
Armstrong,  158.  The  Hollows  Tower,  159.  Strength  of  the 
clan,  160.  Ensnaring  and  death  of  Gilnockie  Armstrong,  i6r. 
Churchyard  at  Cannobie,  arms  of  the  Armstrongs,  162.  Beautiful 
Cannobie,  its  name  made  immortal  by  Scott,  163.  Archie  Arm- 
•  strong,  the  great  wit,  emigration  of  members  of  the  clan  to  Ire- 
land, 164.  Armstrongs  in  Ireland,  165.  Prominent  names  of  the 
family  in  America,  Scotch  prisoners,  166.  Visit  to  Hermitage 
castle,  167.  The  Douglasses,  168.  Hornless  black  cattle,  a 
pedestrian  tour,  169.  Dinner  at  a  thatch-roofed  cottage,  depart- 
ure for  the  Hebrides,  170. 


12  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VII.— (Pages  171-196.) 

FROM  THE  ENGLISH  BORDER  TO  THE  HEBRIDES. 

The  way  I  reached  Gretna,  171.  Lockerby,  172.  The  clan  John- 
ston, Peebles,  173.  Neidpath  castle,  Henry  Armour,  174.  Home 
of  the  Sinclair  or  St.  Clair  family,  Roslin  chapel,  175.  Hawthorn- 
den,  Lasswade,  castle  of  Craigmillar,  home  of  the  Pinkerton  fam- 
ily, 176.  Home  of  the  Stark  family,  J.  Grant  McLean,  177. 
Stirling  castle.  Bridge  of  Allan,  Campsie  hills,  178.  Garden  of 
the  King,  Vale  of  Monteith,  Wallace  monument,  179.  The 
Bridge  of  Stirling,  the  old  battle-ground  of  William  Wallace,  180. 
Battle-field  of  Bannockburn,  the  "  Bore  Stone,"  Henry  de  Bohun, 
182.  Gillie's  hill.  Abbey  Craig,  Wallace  monument,  six  battle- 
fields, 183.  Cambuskenneth  abbey,  184.  Home  of  the  Aber- 
crombies,  battle  of  Sherriflf-muir,  185.  Value  of  a  belt,  Glen- 
Dochart,  country  of  the  Clan  Campbell,  186.  Origin  of  Scotch 
clans,  1S7.  First  appearance  of  the  Campbells,  188.  Their 
strength  and  ancient  home,  Tyndrum,  Dalmally,  Castle  of  Kil- 
churn,  189.  "It's  a  far  cry  to  Lochow,"  Loch  Etive,  Oban, 
departure  for  Stornoway,  190.  In  localities  made  famous  by  Will- 
iam Black,  Island  of  Mull,  191.  Mountains  of  Ulva,  islands  of 
Muck,  Eig,  Rum,  Canna,  and  Skye,  192.  Tragedy  of  the  cavern, 
193.  Seat  of  Lord  Macdonald,  jagged  coast  of  Lewis,  194.  Wel- 
come to  Stornoway,  195.     Greetings  of  a  clansman,  196. 

CHAPTER  VIII.— (Pages  197-213.) 

ISLAND    OF    LEWIS    TO    INVERNESS. 

Population  and  extent  of  Lewis  and  Harris,  Earl  Dunmore,  Sir 
James  Matheson,  197.  Description  of  Lewis,  Scandinavian 
names,  198.  Black  wings,  fishermen  in  Stornoway,  Norman  Mor- 
ison,  199.  Life  in  Stornoway,  200.  First  home  of  the  Morisons, 
the  Morison  arms,  201.  Great  number  of  the  name,  202.  The 
Macaulays  and  Macleods,  Lord  Macaulay  of  the  Lewis  family, 
203.  Gray  crows,  no  trees  or  shrubs,  Garra-na-hina,  204.  Places 
described  by  William  Black,  205.  Original  of  home  of  "  Sheila," 
and  the  "  King  of  Borva,"  206.  The  druidical  stones  at  Caller- 
nish,  207.  Houses  of  the  crofters,  208.  The  smoking  cabins  at 
night,  209.  Visiting  the  cottages,  210.  Distress  of  the  crofters, 
and  the  rebellion  in  Skye,  211.  Land  troubles,  212.  A  coming 
storm.  Will  Britain  be  just?  213. 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS.  1 3 

CHAPTER  IX.— (Pages  214-234.) 

FROM    INVERNESS    TO    THE    ENGLISH    BORDER. 

Leaving  Stornoway,  214.  A  physician's  practical  joke,  from  Ulla- 
pool to  Garve,  215.  Waterfall  of  Corry  Halloch,  planting  trees 
upon  mountains,  game  forests,  Mr.  Winans  of  Baltimore,  216.  A 
mountain  divides  the  waters,  a  mountain  of  storms,  arrive  at  In- 
verness, Mr.  White,  librarian,  217.  Alexander  Mackenzie,  battle- 
field of  Culloden,  218.  Burial-place  of  the  clans,  and  stones  to 
each,  219.  The  typical  Celt,  Inverness,  220.  Through  the  Cal- 
edonian canal,  what  waters  the  canal  connects,  221.  Falls  of 
Foyers,  Balluchulish,  222.  Sorrowing  chief  of  Glencoe,  223.  The 
massacre,  the  Pass  of  Glencoe,  224.  Old  homes  of  the  Macdon- 
alds,  Ossian's  cave,  the  Crinan  canal,  225.  Again  in  Glasgow, 
226.  On  Ben  Lomond,  227.  Loch  Lomond,  Rob  Roy's  cave, 
228.  Haunts  of  Roy  Roy,  land  of  the  MacGregors,  229.  Their 
early  home,  230.  Loch  Katrine,  Loch  Vennachar,  231.  Through 
the  Trossachs,  meeting  Hon.  P.  C.  Cheney,  232.  First  home  of 
Boyd  family,  233.     Farewell  to  Scotland,  234. 

CHAPTER  X.— (Pages  235-249.) 

FROM  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER  TO  LONDON. 

Beauty  of  England,  235.  Carlisle,  home  of  the  Musgraves,  Kes- 
wick, 236.  Home  of  Southey  and  Coleridge,  at  the  English  lakes, 
coach  drive  to  Windermere,  237.  Curious  names  of  hotels,  Der- 
wentwater,  238.  Thirlemere  lake,  Dunmail  Raise  Pass,  Grass- 
mere,  239.  Home  of  William  Wordsworth,  240.  His  grave, 
Grassmere  church,  grave  of  Hartley  Coleridge,  241.  Homes  of 
Harriet  Martineau  and  Mrs.  Hemans,  242.  Small  cathedral, 
Lake  Windermere,  243.  English  opinion  of  American  politics, 
244.  Two  Englishmen  measure  lances,  245,  246.  City  of  Leeds, 
a  Sabbath  in  York,  Roman  ruins,  the  walls,  247.  The  cathedral 
and  triumphant  song,  248.     Stone  coffins,  arrival  in  London,  249. 

CHAPTER  XL— (Pages  250-292.) 

LONDON. 

Its  bright  skies.  Charing  Cross,  Scotland  Yard,  251,  An  event 
wholesome  to  royalty,  the  embankment,  252.  Underground  rail- 
way, Cleopatra's  Needle,  253.  Mary  Anderson,  Henry  Irving, 
254.  Covent  Garden,  255.  American  Exchange,  and  Americans 
met,   256.     Somerset  House,   Henry  F.  Waters,    James  A.   D. 


14  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 

Camp,  257.  Kew  Gardens,  258.  Richmond  Hill,  259.  St. 
James's  Park,  the  Mall,  260.  The  queen's  stables,  261.  West- 
minster abbey,  262.  Chapel  of  Henry  7th,  coronation  chair,  263. 
Where  Cromwell  was  entombed,  264.  Beheading  the  dead  Crom- 
well, 265.  Present  place  of  Cromwell's  skull,  no  monument  to 
Cromwell,  266.  Poet's  corner  in  the  abbey,  Longfellow,  Major 
John  Andrd,  267.  Services  in  the  abbey,  268.  Spurgeon's 
preaching,  269.  Rev.  Dr.  Parker,  270.  No  elasticity  to  British 
law,  shrimps,  271.  The  British  Museum,  Henry  Stevens,  272. 
Title  deeds  of  Babylon,  Egyptian  relics,  273.  St.  Paul's  church, 
274.  Monument  to  Gen.  Ross  and  Lord  Cornwallis,  275.  Tower 
of  London,  276.  The  crown  jewels,  277.  Horse  armory,  instru- 
ments of  torture,  278.  Waiter's  gate,  Hyde  park,  279.  The 
Albert  memorial  and  Albert  hall,  280.  South  Kensington  Mu- 
seum, Crystal  Palace,  Hampstead  Heath,  281.  Liquor  shops  and 
girls  for  bar-tenders,  Caxton's  printing-press,  282.  Hon.  Thomas 
Biggar,  Rev.  Dr.  Kinnear,  through  the  parliament  buildings,  283. 
Wonderful  history  of  Westminster  Hall,  284.  Entrance  to  House 
of  Commons,  art  galleries,  slight  allusions  to  America  in  paintings, 
police  everywhere,  285.  Difficulties  in  visiting  parliament,  286. 
In  the  House  of  Lords,  287.  Visit  to  the  House  of  Commons, 
Sir  Thomas  McClure,  the  Maori  king,  288.  Herbert  Gladstone, 
peculiarities  of  British  orators,  289.  Sir  Stafford  Northcote,  290. 
William  E.  Gladstone,  291.     His  preeminence,  292. 

CHAPTER  XII.— (Pages  293-31S.) 

ON    THE    CONTINENT. 

Leaving  London,  Antwerp,  293.  Its  celebrated  paintings,  cathe- 
dral, 294.  Peter  Paul  Rubens,  295.  Brussels,  Hotel  de  Ville, 
296.  Famous  places  in  Brussels,  297.  Palace  of  Justice,  298. 
Habits  of  the  people,  299.  Battlefield  of  Waterloo,  300.  Aix- 
la-Chapelle,  301.  Curious  sights  and  customs,  302.  Tomb  of 
Charlemagne,  Cologne,  Hotel  de  Holland,  303.  Cathedral,  304. 
City  of  Cologne,  305.  A  railway  race,  Bonn,  306.  Beauties  of 
the  Rhine,  Drachenfels,  Coblentz,  307.  Ehrenbreitstein,  the 
vineyards,  308.  German  beds,  Stolzenfels,  Rheinfels,  St.  Goar, 
Lurlei,  Schonburg,  birthplace  of  Marshal  Schomberg,  309.  Good 
memories  of  the  Germans,  Mouse  Tower,  Archbishop  Hatto  of 
Mayence,  310.  Bingen  on  the  Rhine,  311.  Mayence,  Bishop  J. 
F.  Hurst,  Heidelberg,  312.  Its  wonderful  castles,  313.  Its  great 
tun,    university,    314.      Antiquated    agricultural    utensils,    315. 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS.  1$ 

Baden-Baden,  Strasburg,  cathedral,  clock,  316.  The  hermetically 
sealed  case,  German  laundries,  317.     At  Bale,  318. 

CHAPTER  XIII.— (Pages  319-331-) 

SWITZERLAND. 

Lucerne,  Lion  of  Lucerne,  320.  The  Rigi-Kulm,  Fluelen,  Vitznau, 
322.  Sunrise  on  the  Alps,  323.  Homes  of  the  Swiss  moun- 
taineers, Brienz,  324.  The  Brunig  Pass,  325.  Falls  of  the  Giess- 
bach,  Lake  of  Brienz,  the  Jungfrau,  Great  Aletsch  glacier,  326. 
Lake  of  Thun,  Berne,  celebrated  clock  tower,  327.  Federal 
Council  Hall,  Lusanne,  Hotel  Gibbon,  the  markets,  cathedral, 
328.  Lake  of  Geneva,  Ouchy,  Morgas,  Rolle,  Nyon,  Coppet, 
Versoix,  Chateau  of  Prangins,  Joseph  Bonaparte,  Madame  de 
Stael,  329.  Geneva,  Rousseau,  John  Calvin,  the  Swiss,  330. 
Swiss  soldiers,  331. 

CHAPTER  XIV.— (Pages  332-351.) 

FRANCE,    ENGLAND. 

Meeting  a  clansman,  Paris,  Gen.  George  Walker,  332.  Ex-Gov. 
P.  C.  Cheney,  Notre  Dame,  place  where  Napoleon  was  crowned, 
the  prince  imperial,  the  Madeline,  333.  Place  de  la  Concorde, 
place  of  execution  of  Louis  XVL  Marie  Antoinette,  Charlotte 
Corday,  Danton,  Robespierre,  334.  Obelisk  of  Luxor,  Arc  de 
Triomphe,  Palace  of  the  Elysdes,  Champs-Elysdes,  Palais  de  ITn- 
dustrie,  335.  New  Opera  House,  336.  Palais  du  Trocadero, 
Hotel  des  Invalides,  337.  Napoleon's  tomb,  338.  The  Louvre, 
339.  Place  du  Carrousel,  Palace  of  the  Tuileries,  340.  Palais 
Royal,  341.  Place  de  la  Bastile,  Colonne  de  Juiilet,  Cemetery  of 
Pere-la-Chaise,  resting-place  of  Thiers,  Marshal  Macdonald, 
Madame  de  Genlis,  342.  Grave  of  Ney,  Bois  de  Bologne,  St. 
Cloud,  343.  Ville  d'Avray,  Versailles,  apartments  of  Marie 
Antoinette,  Napoleon  I,  Musee  Historique,  Grande  Galerie,  Gal- 
erie  des  Batailles,  345.  Painting  of  siege  of  Yorktown,  gardens. 
Column  Vendome,  the  Gobelins,  346.  Palace  of  the  Luxembourg, 
Hotel  de  Ville,  in  London,  at  Oxford,  347.  Stratford-on-Avon, 
Shakespeare's  birthplace,  his  home,  Hathaway  cottage,  Anne 
Hathaway.  348.  Stratford  church,  Shakespeare's  monument,  349. 
Chester,  Liverpool,  adieu  to  England,  350.  The  journey  home, 
351- 


> 


O 


w 


I^a/T\ble5  ^9  ^urope. 


CHAPTER   I. 


THE    EARLY    HOME. 


la. 


Y  early  home  was  among  the  granite  hills  of 
New  Hampshire.  Like  thousands  of  oth- 
ers who  dwell  in  pleasant  abodes  on  the  plains,  on 
the  sloping  mountain-side,  or  nestling  among  the 
green  valleys  of  the  state  we  love,  we,  my  broth- 
ers, my  sister,  and  I,  who  formed  the  youthful 
flock,  drew  vigor  from  the  bracing  air,  and  inspira- 
tion from  the  beauties  of  the  landscape,  of  wood- 
ed hills  and  valleys  and  bodies  of  water,  which 
made  beautiful  the  place  of  our  nativity. 

The  years  passed  quickly,  as  they  always  do. 
Childhood  gave  place  to  youth,  as  it  always  does. 
My  brothers,  older  than  I,  stood  on  the  threshold 
of  young  manhood,  with  life  and  its  grand  possi- 
bilities opening  up  brighdy  before  them,  when 
their  feet  grew  weary  in  the  way,  and  after  brief 
suffering  they  went  forth,  young,  fresh,  unspotted, 
into  everlasting  sunshine  and  joy. 


1 8  THE  DREAM  OF  CHILDHOOD. 

In  childhood,  when  reading  books  of  travel  and 
of  localities  where  some  of  the  world's  most  tragic 
events  have  occurred,  it  was  a  sweet  day-dream 
to  sometime  visit  historic  towns,  to  stand  where 
the  most  renowned  ones  of  earth  had  stood,  and 
see  and  feel  and  know  what  they  had  seen  and 
felt  and  known. 

This  was  previous  to  the  time  when  everybody 
went  to  Europe — before  the  electric  cable  girdled 
the  globe,  and  spoke  with  its  tongue  of  flame  from 
beneath  the  ocean's  waters.  It  was  before  the 
huee  "reindeers  of  the  Atlantic"  carried  one 
from  New  York  to  Queenstown  in  six  days. 
Neither  at  that  time  did  Cook's  Agency  ticket 
the  tourist,  like  an  express  package,  to  all  parts 
of  the  civilized  world,  and  to  sections  not  civil- 
ized. There  were  then  no  holiday  excursions  to 
Europe  and  return,  with  courteous  conductors  to 
relieve  one  of  every  trouble  save  that  of  breath- 
ing, and  feeing  impecunious  servants  on  the  other 
side  of  the  sea. 

The  dream  of  childhood  was  the  hope  of  youth, 
the  undefined  plan  of  early  manhood.  Each  year 
brought  its  duties  and  delayed  its  execution.  Oft- 
entimes an  event,  slight  and  trivial,  will  change 
the  course  of  a  life.  Standing  upon  a  mountain 
in  Scotland,  one  can  see  where  the  descending 
waters  from  a  higher  point  are  divided  by  a  slight 
ridge,  and  one  tiny  rill,  trickling  down  the  moun- 
tain-side, increased  in  volume  and  intensity,  till 


THE  HOPE  REALIZED.  19 

it  became  a  powerful  current,  and  emptied  into 
the  North  sea.  The  other  flowed  down  the  oppo- 
site way,  became  a  mighty  stream,  and  emptied 
into  the  Atlantic  ocean. 

As  the  ridge  on  the  mountain  divided  the  wa- 
ters, so  an  event,  small  in  itself,  turned  me  from 
the  beaten  track,  and  changed  my  life.  A  strange 
course  of  events,  unlooked  for  and  unexpected, 
compelled  my  course  into  a  literary  channel, 
which  it  had  been  no  purpose  of  mine  to  enter, 
and  into  which  my  first  choice  would  not  have 
led  me.  After  six  years  of  unremitting  toil,  two 
books  went  forth  to  the  world  as  the  fruit  of 
my  pen.  As  the  result  of  those  historical  works, 
a  letter  from  a  person  whom  I  have  never  met  led 
to  the  journey  abroad,  and  this  volume  is  the 
result.  Thus  the  dream  of  childhood  came  true. 
One  hope  of  youth  was  realized,  and  the  plan  of 
early  manhood  executed,  sooner  than  had  been 
expected. 

Having  concluded  to  make  the  journey,  I  got 
my  letter  of  credit  from  Kidder,  Peabody  &  Co.,  of 
Boston,  on  which  I  could  draw  on  many  banks  in 
Europe,  and  secured  passage  to  Liverpool,  Eng- 
land, by  the  good  ship  City  of  Chicago,  and  a 
return  ticket  by  any  ship  of  the  Inman  line. 
February  20,  1884,  having  been  fixed  upon  as 
the  day  of  my  departure,  I  left  the  home  de- 
scribed in  the  commencement  of  this  chapter, 
with  my  face  turned  toward  the  Old  World. 


20  THE  DEPARTURE. 

On  arrival  in  New  York,  it  was  ascertained  that 
owing  to  rough  weather,  a  prolonged  and  danger- 
ous voyage  from  England,  the  vessel  would  not 
sail  on  advertised  time.  This  gave  an  opportu- 
nity for  witnessing  the  elaborate  and  imposing 
demonstration  on  Washington's  birthday  in  hon- 
or of  the  heroes  of  the  Jeamiettej  of  the  Arc- 
tic expedition,  who  had  perished,  in  the  cause  of 
science,  in  the  eternal  frosts  and  snows  of  the 
Polar  regions.  The  body  of  one  justly  honored 
man,  Mr.  Collins,  with  that  of  his  mother,  was 
placed  on  board  of  the  Chicago,  carried  back 
to  his  native  land,  and  now  lies  buried  beneath 
the  green  sod  of  "  dear  old  Ireland."  After  ex- 
changing United  States  money  for  British  gold, 
my  place  was  found  on  board  of  ship. 

On  the  afternoon  of  February  25th,  with  much 
confusion  and  bustle,  the  trundling  of  baggage, 
the  hurrying  of  loaded  teams  on  the  pier,  the 
swiftly  driving  cabs  filled  with  passengers,  the 
shouts  of  the  policemen  to  preserve  order,  the 
impatient  answers  and  sharp  retorts  of  questioned 
officials  and  employes,  the  passengers  and  freight 
were  on  board,  and  the  ship  ready  to  sail.  The 
proud  flag  of  Great  Britain  and  the  loved  flag  of 
the  United  States  were  flying  from  different  masts. 
There  were  hurried  partings  and  affectionate  fare- 
wells. 

The  cables  were  taken  on  board,  the  ponderous 
shafts  of  the  mighty  engine  began  to  move,  the 


BON  VOYAGE.  21 

quivering,  instant  response  of  the  vessel  was  felt, 
and  the  stately  ship  of  6,000  tons'  burden  swung- 
from  her  moorings,  and  amid  the  cheers  of  the 
assembled  hundreds  on  the  pier  and  the  an- 
swerino-  shouts  of  those  on  deck,  the  waving  of 
handkerchiefs  and  the  oft  expressed  wish  for  a 
bo7i  voyage,  she  steamed  down  the  harbor,  past 
Forts  Lafayette  and  Hamilton,  past  the  Quaran- 
tine, and  soon  friends  and  streaming  banners  and 
lofty  city  spires  faded  from  our  view. 

The  journey  had  commenced,  and  I  was  now 
to  wander  for  months,  by  land  and  by  sea,  over 
the  earth  ;  to  travel  extensively  in  Ireland,  Scot- 
land, England,  Belgium,  Germany,  Switzerland, 
and  France  ;  was  to  inspect  places  of  world-wide 
interest,  visit  famous  cathedrals  and  historic  cities, 
to  be  on  mighty  battle-fields  where  struggling 
armies  had  decided  the  destinies  of  empires, 
muse  by  the  graves  of  despots  whose  names  lin- 
ger not  in  one  grateful  memory,  but  who  like  the 
Genius  of  Evil  stalked  through  the  world,  and  at 
whose  decease  humanity  uttered  exclamations  of 
joy  and  songs  of  thanksgiving ;  was  also  to  linger 
by  the  tombs  of  those  whose  lives  were  radiant 
with  good  to  their  fellows,  and  whose  names  and 
deeds  will  be  revered  so  long  as  human  hearts 
love  all  that  is  lovely  and  of  good  report. 

Beautiful  rivers,  lovely  lakes,  green  valleys,  and 
the  glacier-crowned  Alps,  with  Mont  Blanc's  lofty 
head  wreathed  with  its  diadem  of  eternal  white- 


22  A    WILDERNESS  OF  WATERS. 

ness,  and  piercing-  the  skies,  were  to  become  fa- 
miliar friends.  Gentle  reader,  please  accompany 
me  in  these  wanderings,  go  with  me  step  by  step, 
while  the  places  of  travel  are  visited. 

When  the  pilot  was  dismissed,  the  vessel 
started  upon  its  3000  miles  of  ocean  travel,  was 
soon  out  of  sight  of  land,  and  the  next  earth  to 
greet  the  eyes  of  her  passengers  would  be  that 
of  the  Emerald  Isle.  The  "Landlubbers'  song" 
could  be  sung, 

"  As  we  ploughed  the  furrowed  sea." 

*  *  * 

"  Hurrah  for  the  ship  !  Hurrah  for  her  crew  ! 
Merry,  merry  boys  are  we ; 
And  our  course  is  pressed  for  the  Irish  coast 
As  we  rise  on  the  yeasty  sea." 

We  were  now  in  a  wilderness  of  waters.  The 
heaving,  jumping,  tossing,  white-capped  billows 
were  upon  every  side.  Our  only  companions 
were  the  sea-gulls  with  their  dark-tipped  wings, 
which  followed  in  the  wake  of  the  vessel,  or  cir- 
cled in  the  air  around  us,  or  rested  themselves 
upon  the  surface  of  the  sea.  They  are  faith- 
ful companions,  and  often  follow  ships  from  shore 
to  shore. 

The  singers  little  knew  of  that  of  which  they 
sang.  The  jubilant  songs  of  most,  when  stepping 
on  shipboard,  are  turned  to  woful  lamentations 
before  two  days  out  from  land.  Sea-sickness,  the 
monster  destroyer  of  the  happiness  of  ocean  tran- 
sit,   comes   to    most    travellers,  and    sticks    more 


MONOTONY  OF  THE    VOYAGE.  23 

closely  than  the  dearest  friend.  Most  of  the  pas- 
sengers, however,  rallied  after  three  days  of  illness, 
myself  among  the  number. 

The  ocean  voyage,  loved  by  few,  and  dreaded 
by  most  as  a  painful  experience,  passed  rather 
pleasantly.  I  did  not  dread  it,  and  should  no 
more  hesitate  to  step  into  a  first  class  steamer 
for  Europe,  than  to  board  the  cars  for  New  York 
or  Chicago. 

Favoring  winds  cheered  us  on  the  way.  The 
steamer's  sails  were  set,  and  caught  the  stiffening 
breezes.  The  mighty  engines  kept  up  their  cease- 
less action  ;  and  the  ship  was  propelled  over  the 
dark  waters  at  an  average  of  more  than  three  hun- 
dred miles  daily.  The  weather,  as  a  rule,  was 
favorable.  The  mornings  often  broke  upon  us 
clear  and  bright.  The  sun,  rising  in  the  intensity 
of  its  brightness  from  the  bosom  of  the  ocean, 
ushered  in  days  cool,  yet  clear  and  delightful. 
Much  of  the  time  was  spent  on  deck,  promenad- 
ing, talking,  reading,  and  playing  games. 

The  nights  seemed  long,  and  little  could  be 
heard  save  the  perpetual  sad  moaning  of  the  sea, 
the  hurrying  feet  on  deck,  and  the  melancholy 
refrain  of  the  sailors'  songs  when  unreefing  the 
sails.  The  monotony  of  the  ocean  voyage  is  one 
of  its  worst  features.  One  tires  of  the  everlast- 
ing expanse  of  waters ;  of  the  deep  blue  above, 
the  blue  deep  beneath  and  around.  One  is  sur- 
rounded by  the  billows,  ceaseless   in   their   mo- 


24  OCEAN   TRAMPS. 

tion,  and  destitute  of  all  signs  of  animate  life,  save 
occasionally  a  spouting  whale,  or  thousands  of  por- 
poises which  can  be  seen  for  miles  around,  or  the 
dolphins  at  play,  springing  from  the  waters,  look- 
ing beautiful  with  their  changing  colors. 

Our  steamer  was  a  floating  palace.  The  table 
was  the  equal  of  the  best  hotel,  and  eating  be- 
came one  of  the  chief  attractions  and  the  principal 
occupation  of  the  passengers.  The  three  regular 
meals,  interspersed  with  several  lunches,  kept 
those  on  board  nearly  as  busy  as  a  good  friend 
of  mine  in  Edinburgh,  who  nibbled  away  at  his 
provisions  and  sipped  his  tea  or  coffee  some  eight 
times  a  day.  Many  of  the  gentlemen  amused 
themselves  and  whiled  away  the  time  by  playing 
poker,  drinking  champagne,  and  betting  on  the 
day's  run  of  the  steamer.  Money  frequently 
changed  hands  at  such  times. 

It  may  not  be  generally  known,  but  there  are 
ocean  tramps,  who  live  upon  ocean  steamers 
most  of  the  time,  passing  to  and  fro  over  the  At- 
lantic, whose  business  it  is  to  gamble  and  bet,  and 
thus  rake  into  their  own  pockets  the  shekels  of 
the  foolish  and  unwary  traveller.  The  wine  bill 
of  some  of  these,  during  a  single  voyage  of  ten 
days,  would  often  be  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

Three  classes  of  passengers  were  on  board, — 
cabin  or  first-class,  intermediate  or  second-class, 
and  the  steerage.  Cabin  passengers  fare  sump- 
tuously   every   day.     Every   want   is    anticipated 


MR.  JONES.  25 

and  provided  for.  The  intermediate  live  as  they 
do  in  corporation  boarding-houses  in  our  manu- 
facturing cities,  while  the  steerage  passengers  are 
huddled  together  in  close  quarters,  and  there  is 
nothing  to  brighten  or  cheer  their  hard  and  dis- 
agreeable lot.  There  is  little  or  no  communica- 
tion between  the  different  classes. 

The  cabin  guests  soon  became  like  members  of 
one  great  family,  and  employed  themselves  accord- 
ing to  their  several  tastes,  and  there  was  always 
more  or  less  sport  among  them.  Among  us  were 
three  young  ladies  from  Boston  or  vicinity,  going 
to  teach  in  the  seminaries  at  Stellenbosch,  Wel- 
lington, and  Worcester,  near  Cape  Town,  South 
Africa;  four  clergymen, — two  from  Philadelphia 
and  two  from  Baltimore, — going  to  the  Holy  Land, 
one  of  whom  I  met  months  later  in  the  Parliament 
House,  London ;  merchants,  going  abroad  for  a 
few  weeks  on  business  ;  many  commercial  trav- 
ellers ;  and  some  tourists,  like  myself.  One  of 
the  quaintest,  most  original  characters  on  board 
was  Mr.  Jones,  a  native  of  Wales,  a  resident  in 
Texas,  and  a  rancher  by  occupation.  He  had 
been  in  Texas  but  a  few  years,  and  had  accumu- 
lated considerable  property.  A  marked  and  pe- 
culiar character  was  our  tourist.  His  speech  and 
dress  and  looks  were  peculiar.  He  wore  a  broad- 
brimmed  brown  felt  hat  with  a  light  band  about  it, 
and  sported  a  heavy  cane  of  odd  shape  and  pat- 
tern, which  attracted  considerable  attention.     He 


26  MR.  JONES  COMMANDS  RESPECT. 

was  on  deck  early  in  the  morning  and  late  at 
night,  and  during  the  day,  pacing  with  long,  rap- 
id, swinging  strides  from  end  to  end,  so  as  to 
prevent  being  sea-sick,  and  was  successful.  Mr. 
Jones  was  not  an  educated  man,  was  not  partic- 
ularly intelligent  on  general  topics,  but  he  had 
good,  strong  common-sense,  and  always  kept  his 
weather  eye  open.  Often  had  he  been  the 
butt  for  considerable  merriment  amono-  some  of 
those  whose  manner  of  dress  and  appearance 
generally  were  more  in  harmony  with  the  accepted 
pattern.  He  was  evidently  afraid  of  some  ocean 
disaster,  and  the  mirthful  ones  played  upon  his 
fears  by  telling  him  that  the  purser  had  seized  a 
man  who  was  on  the  point  of  blowing  up  the  ship 
with  dynamite.  After  a  severe  storm,  they  said 
that  Jones  was  so  much  agitated  that  he  had  clan- 
destinely stowed  away  twenty-seven  life-preserv- 
ers in  his  state-room,  ready  for  an  emergency. 

Mr.  Jones  heard  and  knew  it  all,  kept  quiet, 
and  bided  his  time.  It  came  at  last.  He  had 
refused  continually  to  join  these  men  in  their  cups 
and  games.  One  day,  after  many  invitations, 
he  united  his  fortunes  with  theirs  in  the  smok- 
ing-room. Money  was  planked  upon  the  table, 
and  the  game  began.  The  excitement  increased 
as  the  game  progressed;  champagne  and  claret 
flowed  freely;  but  the  Texan,  cool,  collected,  swept 
the  boards,  and  gathered  the  shekels  of  his  tor- 
mentors into  his  own  pocket.     From  that  moment 


A   STORM  A  T  SEA.  2^ 

he  commanded  their  respect,  and  also  won  ducats 
enough  to  pay  his  expenses  across  the  ocean. 

We  were  now  in  the  midst  of  the  broad  Atlantic. 
Our  fleet,  loyal  companions,  the  sea-gulls,  still  bore 
us  company.  The  ponderous  shafts  of  the  ship's 
engines  kept  up  their  ceaseless  motion,  hour  after 
hour,  day  after  day,  without  a  moment's  rest  since 
we  left  New  York  harbor.  In  the  far  distance  a 
sail  would  occasionally  be  seen,  causing  a  breeze 
of  excitement ;  and  the  passengers  were  all  on 
deck  when  we  met  a  steamer  of  the  "White  Star 
Line,"  bound  from  Antwerp  to  New  York,  and 
signals  were  exchanged.  There  was  much  enthu- 
siasm among  the  passengers  of  the  two  ships,  and 
wavino-  of  handkerchiefs. 

To  me,  one  of  the  grandest  sights  on  earth 
is  the  ocean  in  a  storm.  I  had  stood  upon  the 
shore  with  the  winds  blowing  from  an  angry  sea, 
and  the  waves  lashing  themselves  in  foam  against 
rocky  cliffs,  and  enjoyed  beyond  expression  the 
grandeur  of  the  scene ;  but  it  had  never  been  my 
lot  to  be  upon  the  ocean  when  the  thunders 
crashed,  when  lightnings  flashed,  and  the  waves 
ran  high.  That  joy  was  to  come.  The  scene 
was  vivid,  and  will  be  a  memory  till  life's  close. 
The  morning  was  bright  and  sunny,  but  in  the 
afternoon  the  sky  was  overspread  with  dark, 
threateninpf  clouds.  The  ocean  became  rouo-h 
and  choppy.  Darkness  increased,  and  the  low 
mutterings  in  the   distance   proclaimed   the    vio- 


28  THE  NIGHTS  GREAT  DARKNESS. 

lence  of  the  coming  storm.  In  the  night  it 
burst  upon  us  in  all  its  fury.  Rain  fell  in  tor- 
rents. At  3  A.  M,  a  long  shrill  whistle  was  heard, 
and  the  tramp  of  hurrying  feet  on  deck.  It  was 
the  call  for  the  sailors  to  go  aloft  and  reef  the 
sails.  Then  those  sons  of  the  sea,  in  the  pitchy 
darkness  only  as  it  was  relieved  by  the  lights 
upon  the  ship,  in  the  blinding  rain,  climbed  the 
dizzy  height,  went  out  upon  yard-arms,  and 
reefed  the  sails.  The  storm  increased :  our  great, 
staunch,  heavily  laden  ship  was  tossed  about  like 
a  cork  upon  the  waters.  It  was  now  up  upon 
a  wave,  now  down  in  the  trough  of  the  sea, 
now  sidewise  as  with  a  quivering  motion  it  would 
dip  its  side,  a  great  sea  would  strike  it  and  vast 
volumes  roll  over  the  hurricane  deck.  Running 
high  was  the  sea,  but  the  good  ship  sped  on  its 
way  in  the  darkness,  over  tempestuous  billows, 
enveloped  with  water  and  spray,  as  it  was  smitten 
with  the  storm  and  heavy  seas.  The  blackness  of 
the  night,  the  sad  moaning  of  the  ocean,  the  roar- 
ing of  the  storm,  the  falling  rain,  the  howling  of 
the  wind  through  the  vessel's  rio-Sfinof,  and  the 
occasional  flashes  of  lightning,  united  in  making 
the  scene  one  of  terrific  grandeur,  and  an  experi- 
ence to  be  remembered  always. 

"  I  stood  in  the  night's  great  darkness, 
And  heard  the  calling  sea  : 
Ever  and  ever  't  was  speaking 
Out  of  its  heart  to  me." 

The  night  passed  away,  so  did  the  storm,  and 


SABBATH  SERVICES.  29 

as   upon  the    Galilean    sea,  calm   was    upon   the 
troubled  waters. 

On  the  Sabbath  the  crew  in  different  parts  of 
the  ship  were  reviewed  by  the  captain.  Reli- 
gious services  of  the  Church  of  England  were 
holden  in  the  cabin  at  lo  a.  m.,  attended  by  the 
crew  and  most  of  the  passengers,  and  conducted 
by  the  captain,  the  oldest  officer  and  admiral  of 
this  steamship  line.  He  was  a  fine,  courteous 
gentleman,  modest,  unassuming,  and  as  brave  an 
officer  as  ever  trod  the  deck  of  a  ship.  He  had 
followed  the  seas  more  than  fifty  years,  and  had 
crossed  the  ocean  several  hundred  times.  This 
was  a  British  vessel,  commanded  by  British  offi- 
cers, manned  by  a  British  crew,  sailing  under  the 
British  flag;  but  the  passengers  were  largely 
Americans.  In  the  prayers  read  for  those  in 
authority,  the  name  of  the  President  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  was  coupled  with  that  of  the  Queen  of 
Great  Britain.  The  captain  made  interesting 
remarks  in  behalf  of  the  Home  for  the  children 
of  sailors  lost  at  sea,  and  for  which  a  collection 
was  taken. 

Days  with  their  monotony  passed  away,  and  on 
Thursday,  March  6,  after  a  stiff  breeze  and  heavy 
storms  for  two  days,  it  was  apparent  that  we  were 
nearing  land.  Soundings  were  taken,  and  water 
was  found  to  be  150  fathoms  deep.  This  was  a 
perilous  part  of  the  journey.  Captain  and  officers 
were  upon    the    bridge,  the    whistles   were    kept 


30  IN  SIGHT  OF  LAND. 

continually  blowing,  and  the  ship  moved  cau- 
tiously and  slowly  through  the  fog  and  wind  and 
rain.  At  2  p.  m.  a  shout  was  heard,  "  Land  in 
sight!"  and  through  the  thick  fog  and  mist, 

"  O'er  the  wild  waves  appearing, 
We  saw  the  green  hills  of  Old  Erin." 

These  were  upon  the  southern  coast  of  Ireland, 
and  were  welcomed  with  joy,  as  all  were  glad  to 
behold  land  once  again. 

On  Thursday,  March  6,  at  2  :  30  p.  m.,  we  pass- 
ed Fastenet  Light,  and  signals  were  exchanged. 
It  was  said  that  in  fifteen  minutes  it  would  be 
known  in  New  York  that  the  City  of  Chicago 
had  passed  that  point,  and  that  the  afternoon 
papers  of  that  place,  more  than  three  thousand 
miles  away,  would  inform  their  readers  that  it 
had  crossed  the  great  ferry  in  safety.  This 
Light,  a  circular  shaft  of  considerable  height, 
is  a  vigilant,  constant  sentinel  on  a  dangerous, 
rock -bound  coast.  It  stands  two  or  three  miles 
from  the  main  land,  upon  a  bold,  black,  jagged, 
precipitous  ledge  of  rock,  of  sloping  and  perpen- 
dicular sides.  Against  the  many  broken  frag- 
ments of  ledge  at  its  base  the  water  in  a  high 
sea  is  dashed  with  the  greatest  fury,  throwing 
huge  volumes  of  white  waves  and  spray  high  into 
the  air. 

So  were  passed  many  interesting  points.  The 
sloping  hillsides  were  distinctly  visible  with  their 
scattered    habitations.     Many    ships    were     now 


QUEENSTOWN.  3^ 

about  us.  Darkness  cast  its  black  mantle  over 
the  earth  as  we  entered  the  beautiful  sheltered 
harbor  of  Queenstown.  It  is  one  of  the  best  and 
most  lovely  in  the  world.  High  hills  surround 
it,  and  their  steep  sides,  from  the  edge  of  the 
water  to  their  summits,  are  covered  with  pleasant 
homes,  which  on  this  dark  evening  were  lit  up  by 
thousands  of  lights,  which  shed  bright,  cheerful 
gleams  over  the  calm  waters  of  the  bay.  The 
tug-boat  came  to  us,  bearing  the  mayor  of  Cork 
and  other  officials  to  receive  the  bodies  of  Mr.  Col- 
Hns  and  his  mother,  and  give  them  proper  honor 
and  burial.  After  bidding  my  ship  companions 
farewell,  for  most  went  to  Liverpool,  I  landed  at 
Queenstown. 

"A  passage  perilous  maketh  a  port  pleasant." 

It  cost  me  several  dollars  to  run  the  gauntlet  of 
the  servants  before  I  left  the  vessel.  All  had  to 
be  "tipped,"  from  the  steward  to  the  boot-black; 
and  this  was  but  the  commencement  of  my  sor- 
rows in  this  respect  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Atlantic.  I  passed  the  customs  with  no  difficulty, 
and  was  thankful  to  be  once  more  on  solid  land, 
after  ten  days  of  perpetual  sea,  ten  days  of  being 
"  Rocked  in  the  cradle  of  the  deep,"  ten  days  of 
"A  life  on  the  ocean  wave,"  which  was  quite 
enough  for  me. 


CHAPTER    II. 


IRELAND. 


I^UEENSTOWN  is  an  interesting  city,  built 
upon  the  Island  of  Saints.  I  climbed  the 
steep  ascent  to  the  cathedral,  from  which  is  a  full 
view  of  the  harbor  and  bay.  Spike  island  lies 
opposite,  with  its  forts  and  troops,  and  over  them 
all  was  proudly  floating  the  flag  of  Great  Britain. 

Everything  seemed  strange,  and  the  manner  of 
doino-  thines  was  different  from  ours.  Much  of  the 
jobbing  and  teaming  is  done  by  small  boys,  with 
donkeys  hitched  to  clumsy  two-wheeled  carts  with 
shafts  which  protrude  several  feet  in  the  rear,  the 
driver  always  sitting  upon  the  right  shaft. 

I  was  going  northward,  and  wished  to  check  my 
baggage  through  to  a  main  point.  The  officers 
never  give  checks,  and  it  cannot  be  done.  In  the 
United  States,  if  a  party  is  journeying  from  Bos- 
ton to  Chicago,  Omaha,  or  San  Francisco,  he  can 
check  his  baggage  to  those  points,  take  his  little 
brass  plate,  with  its  number,  and  days  afterward, 
by  calling  at  the  proper  station  and  presenting  it, 
his  baggage  is  turned  over  to  him,  and  he  is  not 
annoyed  by  any  care  of  his  luggage  during  the 
long  journey.     This,  and  many  conveniences  per- 


CARE   OF  LUGGAGE.  33 

fectly  familiar  to  Americans,  are  wholly  unknown 
in  the  British  isles.  There  is  nothing  in  their 
system  like  ours,  and  an  American  misses  pain- 
fully the  home  comforts  of  travelling",  and  is  an- 
noyed and  indignant  at  the  conservatism  he 
meets  upon  the  other  side.  The  care  and  respon- 
sibility for  the  transportation  of  one's  property 
rests  entirely  with  the  traveller.  A  porter  ap- 
proaches you  :  you  tell  him  where  you  are  go- 
ing :  he  places  your  luggage  upon  a  truck,  sees 
that  a  printed  paper  with  the  place  of  your  des- 
tination printed  upon  it  is  pasted  upon  the  trunk, 
deposits  it  in  the  luggage  van  or  compartment 
of  the  carriage  in  which  one  is  to  ride.  A  tip 
compensates  the  porter,  whose  great  deference 
awakens  one's  suspicions  that  he  has  been  unnec- 
essarily liberal.  The  servants  abroad  are,  as  a 
rule,  honest,  trusty,  obliging,  and  faithful,  but 
their  air  of  servility  is  anything  but  pleasing  to 
an  American  ;  and  the  idea  of  having  to  watch 
and  look  after  one's  baggage,  in  a  journey  through 
a  foreign  land,  is  perfectly  ridiculous.  When  you 
arrive  in  a  large  city,  the  terminus  of  any  of  the 
great  railways  of  Great  Britain,  the  baggage  is 
put  carefully  upon  the  platform  as  soon  as  the 
train  stops,  and  each  traveller  picks  out  his  own. 
There  is  nothing,  except  his  own  promptness  and 
attention  to  business,  to  prevent  another  from 
claiming  and  carrying  it  off.  It  is  fortunate  that 
the  people  there  are  honest.     I  never  knew  of  any 


34  ON  THE  RIVER  LEE. 

baggage  being  stolen  or  lost  by  this  reprehensible 
style  of  doing  things,  or  not  doing  them.  One 
cannot  help  thinking  what  a  harvest  some  ex- 
pert railroad  thief  of  the  West  could  reap  in  Great 
Britain  !  Yet  this  whole  method  of  public  con- 
veyance is  so  at  enmity  with  our  ideas  of  protec- 
tion, comfort,  and  convenience,  that  it  fills  one 
with  indignation  for  the  conservatism  of  their  rail- 
road officials,  and  the  annoyances  of  their  primi- 
tive system  of  travelling.  This  was  another  of  the 
unpleasant  things  incident  to  foreign  travel. 

Cork  is  twelve  miles  from  Queenstown,  and  is 
reached  by  rail,  or  by  boat  "up  the  pleasant  wa- 
ters of  the  river  Lee."  The  sail  on  the  river  is 
enchanting.  Its  quiet  loveliness,  the  green  fields, 
the  high  and  precipitous  sides  of  the  hill  on  which 
Queenstown  is  built,  its  sides  covered  with  walks, 
drives,  terraces  with  evergreen  shrubbery,  and  the 
whole,  dotted  with  beautiful  homes,  makes  the 
way  delightful.  We  passed  many  points  of  great 
beauty  before  reaching  Cork,  each  apparently 
excelling  all  others.  On  the  passage  I  met  the 
American  consul  at  Oueenstown,  and  we  went  to 
Cork  together.  He  is  an  agreeable  gentleman, 
from  Ohio.  He  tendered  me  courtesies  which  a 
lack  of  time  compelled  me  to  decline. 

Some  people  like  Cork.  I  do  not.  To  me  it 
is  far  from  being  an  interesting  city.  Like  its 
name,  which  signifies  a  swamp,  the  business  part 
is  swampy,  disagreeable,  and  repulsive. 


BLARNEY  CASTLE. 


35 


Here  is  St.  Ann's,  or  Shandon,  church,  begun 
in  1722.  It  is  a  plain  structure.  The  steeple, 
three  sides  of  which  are  built  of  limestone,  the 
fourth  of  red  stone,  is  120  feet  high.  The  Shan- 
don bells  are  no  more  musical  than  many  others, 
but  Rev.  Francis  Mahoney  has  made  them  immor- 
tal. By  his  sweet  lines  he  has  thrown  around 
them  a  glamour,  and  made  their  music  celebrated 
the  world  over.     He  says, — 

"  With  deep  affection 
And  recollection 
I  often  think  on 
Those  Shandon  bells, 
Whose  sound  so  wild  would, 
In  the  days  of  childhood, 
Fling  round  my  cradle 
Their  magic  spells." 

I  hastened  on  to  Blarney  casde,  five  miles 
from  Cork,  a  place  renowned  in  history,  legend, 
and  song.  It  was 
built  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  and  was 
anciently  the  home 
of  the  McCarthys, 
whose  immense  pos- 
sessions were  confis- 
cated in  the  troubled 
period  of  1689.  I^ 
is  one  of  the    most 

picturesque  ruins  in 

T      1       J        T^u r.  Blarney  Castle. 

Ireland.      Ihe   mas- 
sive tower  rises  120  feet  in  height,  and,  with  walls 


36  THE   GROVES  OF  BLARNEY. 

eight  or  ten  feet  in  thickness,  is  very  sohd  and 
enduring,  with  a  lower  portion  of  less  substantial 
proportions.  The  guide  showed  me  in,  and  ex- 
plained the  different  parts.  I  ascended  to  its 
summit,  and  looked  over  its  outer  wall.  In  the 
clear  light  of  that  bright  day  I  could  see  the  coun- 
try for  miles  around.  It  was  the  7th  of  March, 
and  the  fertile  fields  were  as  green  as  they  are 
in  New  England  in  June.  At  the  base  of  the  cas- 
tle a  river  runs  through  the  rich  lowlands.  Sit- 
ting on  the  summit,  I  wrote  several  postals  to 
friends  on  this  side  of  the  sea.  It  was  a  sunny 
afternoon.  The  rooks,  or  jack-daws,  which  are 
very  abundant  and  flew  in  great  numbers  about 
me,  were  quite  tame,  and  made  the  air  resonant 
with  their  voices.  The  ruins  are  thickly  covered 
with  the  Irish  ivy.  The  Blarney  stone,  of  world- 
wide celebrity,  which  imparts  to  the  one  who  kisses 
it  the  persuasive  gift  of  eloquence,  was  inspected 
and  saluted  by  me,  but  not  kissed.  The  opera- 
tion was  considered  too  hazardous,  as  one  must 
be  lowered  by  his  heels  from  a  dizzy  height  in  or- 
der to  do  it. 

The  Groves  of  Blarney  are  justly  celebrated. 
The  trees  are  abundant,  tall  and  stately,  and  their 
large  trunks  are  green  with  moss,  or  covered  with 
the  clinging,  dark  green  tendrils  of  the  Irish  ivy. 
The  flowers  "That  spontaneous  grow  there"  are 
sweet  and  abundant.  The  moss-covered  walks 
yield    like  a   carpet   beneath    one's   tread.     The 


\ 


KILLARNEY.  37 

underlying  basis  of  the  earth  is  of  a  hmestone 
formation,  in  which  are  the  caves.  I  went 
through  them,  explored  the  dungeons  of  the 
casde,  wandered  through  the  far-famed  groves, 
saw  the  charming  waters,  and  was  delighted  with 
it  all. 

At  night  I  reached  the  Lakes  of  Killarney,  hav- 
ing passed  through  some  of  the  most  mountain- 
ous sections  of  the  county  of  Kerry.  The  coun- 
try is  very  poor,  large  sections  are  mountainous, 
or  swampy,  and  hundreds  of  acres  are  mere  peat 
bogs.  In  some  parts  are  great  piles  of  rocks  and 
stone  walls,  like  what  we  see  in  New  England. 

I  registered  at  the  Railway  hotel.  It  was  a 
fine  house  under  excellent  management.  The 
grounds  are  laid  out  artistically,  with  gravelled 
walks,  beds  of  flowers,  and  trees  of  rare  quality 
and  kind.  There  is  much  to  please  the  eye  and 
gratify  one's  love  for  the  beautiful. 

Ireland  is  well  termed  the  Emerald  Isle.  In 
the  southern  sections,  everything  seemed  to  be 
green,  from  the  grass  to  the  trunks  of  the  trees 
and  the  picket  fences.  This  was  the  appearance 
of  things  at  Killarney. 

The  morning  after  my  arrival  was  cool,  clear, 
and  bright.  The  high  mountains  of  Kerry  were 
white  with  snow,  and  looked  bleak  and  wintry  in 
the  distance.  Killarney  has  5,000  inhabitants, 
has  long,  straggling  streets,  "and  smells  to  heav- 
en."    Its   people  drink   a  vast    amount   "  of  the 


432589 


38  BEAUTIFUL  ESTATES. 

dark  beverage  of  hell."  and  this,  with  the  rapa- 
ciousness  of  landlords,  keeps  them  exceedingly 
poor. 

Taking  a  guide  and  an  Irish  jaunting-car,  we 

Jl  started  for    an    inspection   of   the 

j^i^^^T^        lakes.     Passing  out  of  the  village, 

^1^^^^^^       past    the  habitations  of  the  poor, 

"^^^^^^^^  past    the  fine    estates    of  wealthy 

Jaunting  Car.      landlords,    with    their    parks     for 

game,   and    houses    of    the    game-keepers,    past 

groves,  finely  laid  out  fields,  and  palatial  homes, 

we  rode  for    miles    on    the   highway,  where    the 

mortar-faced  walls  at  the  sides  are  from  five  to  ten 

feet  hieh.  and  are  so  solid  and  well  constructed 

that  almost  literally  nothing  of  the  beauties  and 

luxuriance  of  the  enclosed  lands  can  catch  the  eye 

of  the  poor  inhabitants  or  of  the  tourist.     Truly 

the  landlords  of  Ireland  have  deprived  the  people 

of  everything  except  poverty,  and  of  that  there   is 

an  abundance. 

The  ereat  estates  here  are  those  of  the  Earl 
of  Kenmare  and  of  Vix.  Herbert.  Everything 
indicates  the  British  spirit  of  exclusiveness.  The 
high  walls  shut  the  proprietors  in,  and  shut  every 
one  else  out.  The  contrast  between  w^hat  is  with- 
in and  what  is  without  is  great.  Wealth,  elegant 
mansions,  magnificent  domains,  with  greenness 
and  fertility,  are  shut  in :  without  is  poverty, 
wretchedness,  and  misery,  in  the  domiciles  of  the 
people.     The  people  are  mostly  tenants  at  will, 


MUCKROSS  ABBEY. 


39 


and  have  very  little  motive  to  work.  Though 
the  Earl  of  Kenmare  and  other  landlords  may 
have  thousands  of  acres  for  game,  yet  an  Irish 
laborer,  though  he  were  a  saint  on  earth,  could 
not  buy  an  inch  of  land.  The  game  fares  well, 
but  the  people  may  starve.  Thus  it  is  in  Ireland. 
Everything  for  the  few,  woe  for  the  many.  God 
speed  the  day  when  this  wicked,  cruel  system 
may  be  broken  up  ! 

Two  miles  from  Killarney  we  entered  the  mag- 
nificent estate  of  J\Ir.  Herbert,  M.  P.  for  County 
Kerry.     As  one  passes  towards  the  lake  he  will 
observe  on  a  knoll,  and  among  the  trees,  a  pictur- 
esque and  charm- 
ing ruin.     It  is  the 
Abbey    of    Muck- 
ross.     Founded  in 
1440,   repaired    in 
1602,  it  consisted 
of    an    abbey  and 
church.  The  clois- 
ters belonging   to 
the  abbey   are    in 
the  form  of  a  piazza  surrounding  a  large   court- 
yard, nearly  square,  in  the  centre  of  which  is  a 
yew    tree    of   large    proportions.     Many   of   the 
rooms  are  in  fair  preser\'ation.     A  church-yard  is 
there,  where  are  many  old  and  new  stones  bearing 
illustrious  names.     There  silently  sleep  some    of 
the  O'Sullivans,  McCarthys,  and  Herberts.     The 


40  LAKES  OF  KILLARNEY. 

old  bramble-covered  yard  is  paved  with  tomb- 
stones of  those  who  died  long  ago.  A  graveyard 
is  one  of  the  most  interesting  places  in  the  world 
to  visit.  People  always  go  there.  Do  they  de- 
rive an  unconscious  pleasure  from  the  thought 
that  sometime  they  will  rest  there  ?  I  wandered 
among  these  graves,  so  near  the  roofless  old 
abbey,  and  read  the  inscriptions  upon  the 
stones,  and  mused  of  those  who  rested  so  quietly 
beneath  the  grass  and  brambles. 

Diverging  from  the  abbey  in  various  directions 
are  the  broad  avenues  which  led  to  it,  still  in 
splendid    condition,  green    with   luxuriant  grass, 

and  shaded  by  old 
and  stately  trees.  The 
mansion  of  the  pres- 
ent Mr.  Herbert  is 
built  of  light  stone,  and 
for  situation  and  state- 
liness  of  structure  can 
hardly  be  surpassed.  We  took  a  tour  of  the 
lakes  over  a  fine  hard  road,  saw  the  lofty  moun- 
tains about  whose  summits  hung  the  drifting 
clouds.  The  Eagle's  Nest  rears  its  head  seven 
hundred  feet  above  the  waters.  I  went  to  the 
connecting  link  of  the  two  lakes,  called  the 
"  Meeting  of  the  Waters."  Tom  Moore's  lines 
come  to  me : 

"  There  is  not  in  the  wide  world  a  valley  so  sweet 
As  that  vale  in  whose  bosom  the  bright  waters  meet." 


CROMWELUS  BRIDGE.  4 1 

I  do  not  .like  landlordism,  as  it  exists  in  Great 
Britain  to-day,  nor  the  laws  by  which  it  is  bol- 
stered up.  The  system  is  doomed  to  destruc- 
tion at  no  distant  time,  and  may  a  bloodless 
revolution  speedily  accomplish  this  result.  It  is 
a  serious  offence  for  one  to  cut  so  much  as  a 
walking-stick  on  the  domains  of  the  landlords. 
I  rejoice  in  saying  that  I  violated  the  precious 
and  divine  rights  of  a  landlord  by  cutting  and 
carrying  through  Europe,  and  finally  to  my  home 
in  New  Hampshire^  a  stick  of  arbutus,  which  I 
now  have,  as  a  cane.  If  this  sketch  should  ever 
meet  the  eye  of  Mr.  Herbert,  it  might  afford 
him  some  gratification  to  know  that  I  cut  it 
upon  his  land,  and  that  it  is  a  good  specimen. 
After  committing  this  heinous  offence,  I  inspected 
the  antiquated  structure  called  the  "  Old  Wier 
bridge,"  and  also  Cromwell's  bridge,  Cromwell 
was  a  plain,  blunt,  outspoken  man.  He  said  what 
he  meant,  and  enforced  rigidly  what  he  said.  He 
was  a  progressive  man,  and  believed  in  adopting 
all  the  improvements  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived. 
He  had  no  charity  for  stupidity,  nor  any  sympathy 
for  the  thriftless  manner  of  doing  things,  or,  rath- 
er, of  not  doing  them,  in  Ireland.  When  he  was 
at  Killarney,  he  was  greatly  annoyed  because  there 
was  no  bridge  at  a  certain  point.  He  did  not  like 
the  plan  of  having  to  wade  through  deep  waters, 
when  a  bridge  would  enable  his  army,  with  artil- 
lery, to  pass  such  a  point  with  ease  and  comfort. 
3 


42  MARKET-DAY  AT  KILLARNEY. 

So  he  told  the  Irish  to  build  a  bridge — to  build  it 
quick,  and  build  it  strong;  and  as  a  clincher  to 
his  command,  he  said  if  it  was  not  completed  when 
he  returned  he  would  hang  an  Irishman  for  every 
hour  he  was  delayed.  They  knew  he  would  keep 
his  word,  and  the  bridge  was  built.  Would  that 
there  were  many  Cromwells  in  Great  Britain  to- 
day, to  strike  the  spirit  of  progress  into  its  peo- 
ple! 

Saturday  is  a  weekly  market-day  at  Killarney, 
and  the  railroads  carry  at  reduced  rates  great  num- 
bers of  people  who  flock  into  the  city.  Hundreds 
came  by  trains,  bringing  what  produce  they  could 
carry,  and  after  disposing  of  it,  getting  goods 
for  family  use,  getting  liquor  and  getting  drunk, 
and  cursing  the  British  government,  they  took  the 
cars  for  their  homes.  Many  hundreds  more  came 
into  the  city  with  little  donkey  carts,  carrying  loads 
of  hay,  straw,  or  any  kind  of  produce  they  wished 
to  sell.  They  congregated  in  the  market-place, 
and  sold  before  the  going  down  of  the  sun.  Saun- 
tering through  it  and  among  the  people,  I  was  able 
to  appreciate  the  situation.  I  had  seen  one  side 
of  the  picture, — the  domains  of  the  wealthy,  and 
their  peaceful,  lovely  homes,  where  no  want  ap- 
peared to  be  unsupplied :  here  was  the  other 
side. 

I  went  among  the  Irish  cabins,  such  as  the  ma- 
jority of  the  native  Irish  live  in  throughout  Ire- 
land.    They  are,  as  a  rule,  some  fifteen  feet  in 


IRISH  CABINS.  43 

leneth  and  ten  feet  wide,  built  in  a  loose  manner 
of  cobble-stone,  and  many  times  without  mortar. 
Some  have  a  pane  of  glass  for  a  window,  and  some 
do  not,  and  the  whole  is  covered  with  a  roof  of 
thatch.  The  cold  ground  is  the  only  floor,  and 
their  only  fire  is  made  of  peat.  I  entered  them, 
cold,  narrow,  and  cheerless  as  they  were,  and  have 
seen  the  wife  and  mother,  scantily  clothed  in  rags, 
trying  to  cook  over  the  peat  fire,  and  the  numer- 
ous children  huddling  about  her  with  their  knees 
protruding  from  ragged  trousers,  and  their  little 
bare  feet  red,  aching,  and  sore  from  the  cold.  A 
broken  bench  or  stool  answered  for  a  chair.  The 
homes  are  the  abodes  of  filth,  squalor,  and  unhap- 
piness.  Such  homes  as  these  are  plentiful  in  Kil- 
larney,  and  worse  ones  are  in  many  other  places. 
On  the  south-west  coast,  the  families,  with  hogs 
and  other  animals,  share  the  same  miserable  hut. 
Such  are  not  exceptional  cases :  there  are  multi- 
tudes of  them.  The  poverty  and  wretchedness 
seen  upon  every  side  in  this  fair  land  awaken 
very  deeply  one's  sympathies,  and  make  him  sad 
and  sick  at  heart.  Hon.  Arthur  Livermore,  U.  S. 
consul  at  Londonderry,  told  me  of  a  very  pathetic 
scene  which  he  witnessed.  He  was  called  upon 
to  take  the  affidavit  of  a  man  who  was  upon  his 
death-bed.  He  went  to  the  home  of  the  party — 
such  a  home  as  I  have  described.  There  were 
two  apartments.  The  dying  man  was  in  the 
smaller  one,  some  five  feet  in  width,  totally  dark, 


44  ^  DEVOUT  IRISHMAN. 

there  being'  no  window,  and  the  darkness  only 
reheved  when  the  attending-  daughter  entered 
with  her  flickering  Hght.  He  was  lying  upon  a 
bed,  if  such  it  could  be  called,  made  by  sticking 
rude  poles  into  the  stone  walls,  over  which  was 
thrown  some  loose  straw.  There  was  hardly  room 
for  one  to  stand  between  his  couch  and  the  wall. 
Mr.  Livermore  talked  with  him,  and  took  his  affi- 
davit, when  the  sick  man  called  for  water.  It 
was  brought  by  the  faithful  daughter,  when  the 
dying  man  devoutly  thanked  God  for  all  the 
blessings  and  comforts  granted  him  upon  his 
death-bed  ! 

I  was  the  guest  of  a  Protestant  gentleman,  and 
was  shown  over  his  estate.  He  had  many  ten- 
ants, and  had  built  for  them  comfortable  homes. 
It  was  a  cold  day,  and  the  drizzling  rain  was 
falling.  Noticing  several  women  picking  stones 
in  the  field,  I  asked  my  attendant  if  this  was 
a  common  occurrence,  and  what  wages  the  women 
received.  Yes,  he  said,  it  was  common.  They 
did  the  housework,  and  the  remainder  of  their 
time  was  spent  upon  the  land.  They  received 
eight  pence  per  day,  with  which  to  provide  for 
their  families  and  themselves.  Americans  would 
consider  these  hard  lines! 

There  are  two  classes  of  people  in  Ireland, — 
those  who  are  termed  the  native  Irish,  and  those 
who  are  descendants  of  the  Scotch  and  English 
colonists  of  about  two  hundred    years  ago,  who 


RAILWAY  CARRIAGES.  45 

are  numerous  in  the  north  of  Ireland.     The  two 
classes  remain  almost  entirely  distinct. 

The  southern  part  and  around  Killarney  is 
settled  largely  by  the  natives.  I  was  still  at  that 
place,  and  wishing  to  see  more  of  the  poor  Irish 
people,  one  sunny  afternoon  I  took  a  third  class 
railway  carriage  for  Mallow,  forty  miles  aw-ay. 
The  car  was  a  rude  affair,  but  strong,  substantial, 
and  would  be  a  comfortable  conveyance  for  cattle. 
In  European  carriages  one  enters  at  the  side, 
and  each  compartment  contains  two  seats  facing 
each  other,  running  crosswise  of  the  carriage, 
each  coach  usually  having  three  compartments 
entirely  distinct.  Many  of  the  third  class  car- 
riages in  England  and  on  the  continent  are  good 
and  comfortable,  but  these  were  of  a  different 
pattern.  Very  thick  partitions,  some  four  feet  in 
height,  divide  the  compartments.  My  desire  to 
see  the  Irish  was  gratified.  Into  these  carriages 
they  came,  old  men  and  young  men,  old  women 
and  young  women,  boys  and  girls  and  children, 
with  dogs  and  jugs  and  baskets  and  large  bags, 
and  every  conceivable  thing  from  the  market. 
Many  were  partially  intoxicated,  and  there  was 
drinking  and  smoking  and  chewing,  loud  talking, 
swearing,  drunken  laughter,  and  almost  fighting. 
A  rougher,  beastlier  crowd  I  never  saw.  They 
favored  me  with  their  society  for  eight  miles, 
before  we  reached  the  station  where  many 
alighted.     The  guard,  as  conductors  are  called  in 


46  IRISH  PEDIGREES. 

Europe,  examined  our  tickets  before  starting,  and, 
by  an  absurd  custom  in  Europe,  a  passenger 
must  then  look  out  for  himself  till  the  next 
station  is  reached.  He  might  be  murdered  and 
his  body  thrown  from  the  train,  and  the  guard 
would  not  know  it. 

We  passed  many  of  the  litde  stone,  thatch- 
roofed  cottages  of  the  poor.  They  are  covered 
usually  with  a  thick  layer  of  rye  straw,  which  lasts 
four  years,  when  another  layer  will  be  added,  until 
the  thatch  is  often  more  than  two  feet  in  thick- 
ness. We  passed  other  habitations,  those  of  a 
better  class,  w^ith  comfortable  homes.  These 
were  farmers,  who  cultivated  their  farms  or  sub- 
rented  to  others.  Birds  are  there  considered  the 
friends  of  man,  are  protected  and  quite  tame. 
The  trees  about  many  homes  were  black  with 
rooks  and  rookery  nests.  At  length  most  of  my 
travelling  companions  departed.  Darkness  fol- 
lowed the  daylight,  and  the  stars  twinkled  brightly 
over  the  sky-piercing  summits  of  the  mountains 
of  Kerry. 

At  Mallow  I  registered  at  the  Railway  hotel, 
where  everything  was  made  pleasant  for  me 
by  the  genial  and  courteous  landlord,  who  showed 
me  a  book  of  Irish  pedigrees  by  a  gentleman  of 
Dublin  with  whom  I  once  corresponded.  The 
author  had  traced  many  Irish  families  back  to 
Noah  without  a  missing  link.  In  this  age  of 
accurate    scholarship,  where    nothing  is   accepted 


IRISH  WIT.  47 

without  strongest  evidence,  it  was  startling  to 
find  many  of  the  earlier  generations  without  a 
date  of  birth  or  death  of  the  individual  given  to 
substantiate  the  bold  statement  of  the  person's 
existence.  Statements  unsupported  by  evidence 
is  a  glaring  fault  in  some  Irish  works. 

This  town  is  nicely  situated  on  the  Blackwater 
river.  The  houses,  like  those  of  many  cities  in 
Ireland,  are  of  stone,  covered  with  mortar  of 
a  light  brown  color  mixed  with  coarse  gravel 
stones,  which  makes  them  warm,  tight,  and  inex- 
pensive. The  streets  are  narrow,  with  narrower 
lanes  where  the  poorer  classes  live,  in  such 
houses  as  have  been  described.  These  cities  are 
far  from  attractive  to  an  American. 

The  route  to  Dublin  lay  north  of  Kilkenny,  so 
famous  for  its  cats.  This  is  told  as  evidence  of 
Irish  wit.  Several  persons  were  drinking,  when 
one  by  the  name  of  Kenny  took  a  glass  of  whis- 
key and  began  to  drink.  Unfortunately  a  piece 
of  the  cork  had  gone  into  the  tumbler,  and  from 
the  tumbler  into  his  throat,  where  it  stuck  and 
nearly  strangled  him,  when  a  comrade  said,  "  Sure 
that  is  not  the  way  to  Cork !"  "I  know  it,"  said 
the  half-strangled  Celt,  "but  its  the  way  to  kill 
Kenny."  A  ride  of  six  hours  landed  me  in  Dub- 
lin". The  journey  was  plecisant,  through  rare 
scenery,  abounding  with  historic  associations  and 
remains  of  monuments,  which  mark  a  romantic 
and  buried  past.     Ireland  is  full  of  such. 


48  REMARKABLE  RUINS. 

The  "  Devil's  bit"  is  a  cut  in  the  mountains  as 
sharp  and  distinct  as  if  made  by  man.  The  story 
runs,  that  the  devil  with  his  imps  was  out  for 
exercise  one  bright  morning,  when  one  of  the 
saints  passed  that  way,  and  in  true  Irish  style 
raised  his  cane  and  struck  the  devil  a  fearful 
blow  on  the  side  of  his  head,  when  the  latter 
in  anger  and  agony  bit  out  the  great  gap  in  the 
mountain,  depositing  it  on  the  plain  ten  miles 
away,  which  is  now  the  celebrated  "  Rock  of 
Cashel."  They  are  the  most  remarkable  ruins  in 
Ireland,  and  there  was  the  home  of  the  ancient 
kings  of  Munster,  The  most  ancient  are  the  Chap- 
el and  the  "  Round  Tower."  The  latter  is  ninety 
feet  high,  built  of  light  sandstone,  and  around 
it  were  erected  church  edifices,  now  in  ruins. 
These  towers  are  numerous.  When  they  were 
built  and  for  what  purpose  is  not  known,  as  they 
antedate  veritable  history.  They  were  probably 
erected  for  religious  purposes  connected  with  the 
pagan  rites  of  the  early  residents  of  Ireland.  The 
fathers  of  the  Catholic  church  founded  their  abbeys 
and  monasteries  about  them,  which  is  one  evi- 
dence that  they  first  had  a  religious  significance, 
and  that  the  promoters  of  the  new  faith  wisely 
grafted  it  upon  the  ancient  stalk,  thus  following 
St.  Paul  in  not  shocking  the  prejudices  of  those 
they  would  lead  to  a  purer  faith. 

The  first  round  tower  which  met  my  view  was 
at  Clondalkin,  six  miles  from  Dublin.     It  stands  in 


SCENES  IN  DUBLIN. 


49 


the  midst  of  a  pretty  village,  is  eio-hty-six  feet  in 
height,  with  a  conical  top  such  as  they  all  have, 
and  can  be  ascended  from  the  inside  by  ladders. 
We  passed  Phenix  park  with  its  varied  attractions 
in  wooded  vale  and  upland  scene,  and 
that  ponderous,  ungainly  work  of  man, 
the  monument  to  the  Duke  of  Welling- 
ton, which  has  since  been  removed,  I 
believe.  The  train  whirled  into  the  sta- 
tion of  the  Great  Southern  and  West- 
ern Railway,  and  landed  me  in 
the  old  city  of  Dublin. 

It  is  noted  for  its  fast  cabs  ; 
and  securing  a  jaunting-car,  I 
was  whirled  at  a  rattling  pace  round  tower. 
to  the  Gresham  hotel.  Dublin's  general  appear- 
ance is  that  of  a  solid,  substantial  city,  one  of  the 
past  rather  than  of  the  present  or  the  future.  It 
has  250,000  inhabitants,  but  is  not  a  live  place  like 
Belfast.  The  river  Liftey  runs  through  the  centre 
of  the  town,  and  is  spanned  by  numerous  bridges. 
The  old  castle,  or  Dublin  castle,  whose  name 
has  so  much  political  significance  in  these  troub- 
lous days,  is  not  imposing,  and  has  nothing  of  the 
stateliness  of  Sterling  or  Edinburgh  castle. 

The  most  important  public  buildings  are  the 
old  parliament  house,  now  the  Bank  of  Ireland, 
Trinity  college,  founded  long  ago,  the  general 
post-office,  custom-house,  and  the  "Four  Courts," 
which  will  be  alluded  to  more  particularly  in  an- 


50  MONUMENTS  AND  PARKS. 

Other  place.  Nelson's  monument  is  a  fluted  col- 
umn, 12  1  feet  in  height.  From  its  top  can  be 
seen  the  Wicklow  mountains  on  the  south,  the 
plains  of  Meath  and  Kildare  on  the  west;  and  to 
the  eastward  is  Dublin  bay  and  the  stretching  sea. 
In  no  other  city  did  I  see  so  many  small  statues. 
Through  one  of  the  main  streets,  at  regular  dis- 
tances, were  statues  of  public  men.  There  were 
a  large  number  of  them,  and  they  added  greatly 
to  a  stranger's  interest  in  the  broad,  sweeping 
avenue  of  the  most  famous  city  of  Ireland. 

Phenix  park  is  the  "Central  park"  of  Dublin, 
and  occupies  1,760  acres  of  land.  I  took  a  jaunt- 
ing-car, and  drove  over  the  city  as  well  as  the 
park.  The  drives  and  walks  are  fine  indeed,  lead- 
ing through  many  points  of  artificial  or  natural 
beauty.  Hundreds  of  deer  were  grazing  quietly, 
and  were  undisturbed  by  the  multitude  of  visitors 
who  continually  thronged  the  grounds.  The  resi- 
dence of  the  lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland  is  upon 
the  border  of  the  park.  A  melancholy  interest 
attaches  to  a  spot  on  the  main  avenue,  where 
some  years  ago  Burke  and  Cavendish,  the  high- 
est officials  of  Ireland,  were  foully  assassinated  at 
10  o'clock  at  night,  when  returning  to  their  homes. 
This  spot  is  seen  by  every  visitor. 

When  in  Dublin,  I  spent  several  days  in  the 
Public  Record's  office,  and  consulted  the  war 
rolls  of  the  soldiers  of  1649  and  other  years. 
They  are    a   curiosity,  written    upon    parchment. 


OFFICIAL  DISCOURTESY.  5  I 

rolled  into  great  rolls  nearly  a  foot  in  diameter, 
and  very  heavy.  My  experience  there  is  a 
good  illustration  of  the  way  the  British  officials 
wait  upon  and  accommodate  the  people.  It  is 
quite  a  task  to  find  one's  way  in  that  labyrin- 
thine building  to  the  proper  office.  Reaching 
there  at  last,  I  wished  for  paper  on  which  to  make 
notes,  but  these  officials  would  neither  sell  nor 
give  me  any,  as  it  was  against  the  rules.  I  was 
forced  to  go  out  upon  the  street,  and  after  much 
searching,  found  some  stationery.  The  writing 
is  in  the  old  court  hand,  elegant,  yet  almost 
impossible  for  an  amateur  to  read.  Upon  asking 
one  of  the  employes  if  he  would  read  the  names 
of  those  mentioned  in  a  document  under  exami- 
nation, which  was  only  the  work  of  a  minute,  he 
declined.  I  told  him  he  would  be  paid  for  his 
trouble,  but  he  would  not ;  it  was  against  the 
rules.  He  would  copy  the  will  for  me.  To  copy 
that  long  document  would  cost  several  dollars.  I 
declined  to  have  it  transcribed.  They  charge  twen- 
ty-five cents  for  every  will  or  other  paper,  or  book, 
consulted.  One  is  not  permitted  to  use  pen  and 
ink  in  makino-  notes.  The  officials  are  p-lad  to 
get  one's  money  without  giving  an  equivalent. 
The  whole  system, — the  rules,  the  officials,  and 
the  stupid,  arbitrary  government  back  of  all, — are 
enough  to  drive  an  American  insane.  The  peo- 
ple are  legitimate  plunder  for  the  government  and 
its  officials,  and  they  gladly  plunder  them  every 
time. 


52  THE  FOUR   COURTS. 

In  the  "Index  Nominum  to  the  Inrollments  of 
Adjudications  in  Favor  of  the  [1649]  Officers, 
Preserved  in  Office  of  the  Chief  Remembrancer 
of  the  Exchequer,  Dubhn,"  were  found  the  fol- 
lowing- familiar  Scotch  names  amongf  the  officers 
mentioned.  Often  there  were  several  of  the  same 
surname,  but  only  one  of  each  is  here  given. 
All  of  these  had  property  left  them  :  Robert 
Armstrong,  William  Bell,  Nathaniel  Boyce,  Lieut. 
Adam  Boyd,  Lieut.  Hugh  Browne,  Daniel  Camp- 
bell, John  Carr,  Lieut.  Col.  Hugh  Cochrane, 
Thomas  Fisher,  Arthur  Graham,  John  Gregg, 
Thomas  Holmes,  William  Hopkins,  John  Hughes, 
William  Johnston,  Alexander  Kinkead,  James 
Mac  Adams,  Hugh  Montgomery,  Henry  Patten, 
Alexander  Stuart,  Thomas  Sympson,  John  Vance, 
Thomas  Wallace,  Ensign  James  Waugh,  James 
Wilson,  and  many  others. 

The  "Four  Courts"  is  an  immense  edifice.  The 
officials  are  not  agreeable.  They  would  give  no 
assistance  whatever,  and  would  not  be  tolerated 
in  American  offices.  I  was  thankful  when  my  task 
was  through,  for  it  had  not  been  a  pleasant  one. 


CHAPTER   III. 


LONDONDERRY. 

"  Founded  and  fostered  upon  a  rock, 
Safe  it  will  be  from  storm  and  shock : 
Winds  may  blow  from  an  angry  sea, 
Steadfast  through  all  it  will  ever  be." 


fHE  "old,  old  story"  of  the  siege  of  London- 
derry need  not  be  rehearsed  here.  Most 
are  familiar  with  the  tale  of  woe  ;  have  read  of 
the  ereat  heroism 
displayed  by  the  de- 
fenders, of  their  en- 
durance and  con- 
stancy amid  suffer- 
ing, and  of  their  final 
triumph,  when  the 
city  was  delivered 
July  30,  1689,  which 
was  the  triumph  of 
the  Protestant  cause 

and    of  William    the  Londonderry,  Ireland. 

Prince  of  Orange.  These  events  have  been  most 
graphically  delineated  by  Macaulay  in  his  History 
of  England. 


54  LONDONDERRY. 

The  ancestors  of  many  of  the  people  in  the 
Scotch  settlement  where  my  life  has  been  mainly 
spent  were  at  the  siege,  and  participants  in  the 
stirring  scenes  of  1688-89,  and  afterwards  settled 
in  New  Hampshire.  My  ancestors,  of  Scotch 
blood,  who  went  from  Scotland  to  Ireland  about 
that  time,  and  lived  at  Aghadowey,  near  Coleraine, 
were  gathered  in  with  many  other  Protestants, 
and  driven  beneath  the  city's  walls  by  the  cruel 
order  of  the  French  general,  Conrad  de  Rosen, 
and  were  thus  exposed  to  the  missiles  of  the 
besieged  and  the  besiegers.  They  were  finally 
admitted  within  the  city,  and  after  enduring  the 
sufferings,  also  shared  the  joy  of  the  final  triumph. 
They  lived  in  the  county  of  Londonderry,  with 
their  pastor.  Rev.  James  McGregor,  in  the  parish 
of  Aghadowey,  till  17 18,  when  the  pastor  and  a 
portion  of  his  flock,  among  them  my  ancestors, 
emigrated,  and  settled  in  Londonderry,  N.  H.  It 
was  not  known  on  this  side  of  the  sea  from  what 
place  the  Rev.  James  McGregor  and  his  people 
came,  till  my  investigations  revealed  it.  It  was 
said  they  came  from  Londonderry.  That  is  cor- 
rect, but  it  was  the  county  and  not  the  city  of 
Londonderry.  They  came  from  the  parish  of 
Aghadowey,  some  forty  miles  away,  where  he  was 
pastor  from  1 701-17 18,  when  he  and  a  portion  of 
his  flock  emigrated  to  New  Hampshire. 

Traditions  of  the  siege  have  come  down  to  me 
from  my  ancestors  who  participated  in  it.     I  knew 


SCO  TCH  PA  TRONYMICS.  5  5 

the  history  of  it,  and  wanted  to  behold  the  locaHty. 
Six  generations  have  passed  away  since  the  tri- 
umphant day,  but  in  some  hearts  on  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic  that  event  is  not  forgotten.  I  went 
and  viewed  the  place,  and  stood  upon  the  ancient 
ground.  Before  leaving  Ulster  I  wished  to  see 
and  meet  persons  who  bore  names  which  had  been 
familiar  in  the  new  Ulster  in  New  Hampshire. 
The  Scotch  names  in  New  Hampshire  are  dupli- 
cated in  Pennsylvania,  West  Virginia,  North  and 
South  Carolina,  and  Georgia.  These  are  familiar 
Scotch  patronymics,  well  known  in  the  New  Eng- 
land settlement:  Aiken,  Alexander,  Allison,  An- 
derson, Archibald,  Armour,  Armstrong,  Barnet, 
Bell,  Boyd,  Caldwell,  Campbell,  Clark,  Clyde, 
Cochran,  Davidson,  Dickey,  Dinsmoor,  Gilmore, 
Gregg,  Hemphill,  Holmes,  Hopkins,  Hughes, 
Jameson,  Johnston,  Kinkead,  Kyle,  Mack,  McCoy, 
McCleary,  Mcllvaine,  McGregor,  McKeen,  Mont- 
gomery, Morrison,  Nesmith,  Park,  Patterson, 
Pinkerton,  Rankin,  Reid,  Ritchey,  Simpson,  Smi- 
ley, Starrett,  Steele,  Stimson,  Stuart,  Templeton, 
Thom,  Thompson,  Todd,  Vance,  Wallace,  Waugh, 
and  others. 

The  original  name  of  Londonderry  was  Derry- 
Calgach,  the  "  Oak-wood  of  Calgach,"  for  Derry 
means  "a  place  of  oaks"  or  "thick  wood;"  Cal- 
gach signifies  "  a  fierce  warrior."  After  the  tenth 
century  it  was  called  Derry-Columbkillc.  When 
the  city  was    chartered  by  King  James  I,  it  was 


56  BATTLE   OF  THE  BOYNE. 

called    London-Derry,  which    name   it   has   since 
retained. 

My  interesting  travelling  companion,  a  Mr. 
Hewitt,  of  Lifford,  county  Donegal,  was  a  son 
of  Lord  Lifford.  We  travelled  together  to  Lon- 
donderry. Unlike  many  Britons,  he  was  not  only 
intelligent,  but  was  very  communicative.  Being 
familiar  with  the  country  and  people,  he  made  the 
journey  pass  very  pleasantly.  We  were  whirled 
along  rapidly,  and  crossed  the  Boyne  at  Drogheda. 
A  mile  away  was  fought,  July  i,  1690,  the  famous 
battle  of  the  Boyne,  which  established  William 
Prince  of  Orange  upon  the  throne  of  Great 
Britain.  On  the  side  of  the  prince  were  the 
ancestors  of  many  who  subsequently  settled  in  the 
Scotch  settlements  of  America.  An  obelisk  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  high  marks  the  spot  where 
the  battle  commenced. 

We  passed  through  the  ancient  town  of  Dun- 
dalk,  once  fortified  but  now  with  ruined  walls, 
where  the  last  king  in  Ireland  was  crowned  and 
bore  sway.  After  the  decisive  victory  of  Ban- 
nockburn  had  secured  the  freedom  of  Scotland, 
Edward,  brother  of  Robert  Bruce,  was  crowned 
king  of  Dundalk.  Two  years  later,  in  13 18,  he 
was  killed  in  a  battle  with  the  English. 

Picturesquely  situated  upon  our  route  was 
Newry,  described  by  Dean  Swift  as  consisting 
of 

"  High  church,  low  steeple, 
Dirty  streets,  and  proud  people." 


LONDONDERRY.  57 

There  was  a  fine  view  of  the  town,  surrounded 
by  towering  hills.  We  journeyed  through  the 
counties  of  Louth,  Armagh,  Down,  Tyrone,  and 
touched  Doneeal.  Some  sections  throuo-h  which 
we  travelled  were  beautiful,  romantic,  mountain- 
ous, and  full  of  historic  interest  and  associations. 
Omagh,  one  of  the  memories  of  the  1688-89 
contest,  was  passed,  and  at  length  the  waters  of 
the  river  Foyle  came  in  view,  and  at  2  p.  m.  we 
entered  the  world-famed  town  of  Londonderry. 
It  was  with  exceeding  joy  I  stood  upon  the  conse- 
crated ground.  It  seemed  like  getting  home  after 
a  long  journey,  I  was  soon  inside  the  walls  and 
registered  at  the  Imperial  hotel,  in  the  heart  of 
the  rare  old  city. 

Londonderry,  Ireland,  is  in  the  county  of  the 
same  name,  and  built  on  a  hill  which  rises  119 
feet  from  the  water.  The  river  Foyle  surrounds 
it  upon  three  sides.  The  hill  is  covered  with 
houses  of  various  styles,  and  on  the  summit  is 
the  celebrated  cathedral,  with  its  lofty  spire, 
where  worshipped  the  Episcopalians  and  the 
Presbyterians  at  different  hours  of  the  day  dur- 
ing the  defence  of  the  city  in  1688-9.  ^^  i^  ^^^^ 
most  interesting  town  in  Ireland,  begirt  with 
walls  solid,  stern,  and  picturesque  as  those  of  any 
ancient  city.  My  impatience  to  see  it  was  very 
great.  In  a  brief  time  after  my  arrival  I  was 
inspecting  the  town.  Passing  through  the  Dia- 
mond, the  central  open  square  or  market-place,  to 


58  INTERESTING   OBJECTS. 

Ship  Quay  gate,  and  mounting  the  walls,  I  passed 
completely  around  the  old  city.     They  are  some 
fourteen  feet  in  height,  and  wide  enough  to  drive 
two  teams  abreast.     There  were  originally  several 
gates,    among   them    Ship  Quay  gate    near   the 
river.  Bishop's  at  the  opposite  side  of  the  town, 
New  gate  and  Ferry  gate   at  either   side   of  the 
town.     It  was    Ferry  gate  which  the  apprentice 
boys  closed  so  suddenly,  and  thus  prevented  the 
entrance  of  King  James's  men,  who  had  crossed 
the  river  for  that  purpose.     This  act  committed 
the   city  to   the   fortunes  of  King  William.     The 
river  has  been  drained  away,  its  bed  filled,  and 
the  whole  is  covered  with  buildings.     Directly  on 
the  opposite  side,  near  the  New  gate,  is  an  ancient 
brick  house,  where  once   lived  James   Morrison, 
who  is  mentioned  by  Macaulay  as  standing  upon 
the  walls  at  the  siege  and  calling  to  his  comrades 
to   "Bring  a  big  gun!"  when  the   Irish  soldiers 
beneath  him  scampered  away.    It  was  my  privilege 
to    meet  one    of  his   descendants.     Other  gates 
have  been  added  to  the  walls,  which  would  afford 
only  a  slight  protection  to  the  enginery  of  mod- 
ern warfare.     A  very  interesting  object  is  Walker's 
Pillar,  erected   1826-28,  to  perpetuate  the  mem- 
ory of  the   illustrious  George  Walker  and   other 
noble  men  who  were  active  in  the  defence  of  the 
city.     It  is  a  handsome  Doric  column,  surmounted 
by  a  statue.     The  first  stone  was  laid  December 
18,  1826,  and  completed  August,  1828.     It  stands 


THE  BROKEN  BOOM.  59 

upon  the  walls  overlooking  a  deep  valley,  and  upon 
its  base  are  inscribed  the  names  of  some  of  the 
city's  brave  defenders.  After  ascending  the  steps 
inside,  one  reaches  the  walk  around  the  top,  and 
has  an  excellent  sight  of  the  city  and  the  country 
around.  On  the  hill  opposite  was  encamped  the 
army  of  King  James.  A  mile  to  the  right  is 
Magee  college,  and  two  miles  away  is  the  shallow 
part  of  the  Foyle,  where  the  sand-bars  extend  so 
far  into  the  river  that  the  enemy  stretched  across 
a  boom  to  prevent  ships  with  supplies  from  reach- 
ing the  suffering  people.  The  channel  was  nar- 
row, and  the  vessels  going  with  great  force  against 
it,  the  boom  broke  and  the  city  was  saved. 

This  place  of  30,000  people  has  greatly  out- 
grown its  former  limits,  and  the  new  portion  is 
quite  attractive.  The  old  part  is  not  pleasing, 
and  only  its  rare  historic  associations  make  it  of 
interest  to  the  traveller.  The  town  hall  is  un- 
interesting, and  is  not  kept  in  order.  The  public 
libraries  are  primitive  in  their  arrangement,  the 
books  old  and  antiquated.  One  valuable  work  of 
government  surveys,  illustrated  with  costly  charts, 
contained  maps  of  Londonderry  in  1688  and  1788. 
The  obliging  attendant  very  kindly  removed  them 
from  the  book  and  gave  them  to  me  ! 

Wishing  to  consult  the  records  of  the  ancient 
church,  which  were  in  the  cathedral,  and  under 
the  control  of  the  Lord  Bishop,  it  was  necessary 
for  me  to  call  at  the  palace,  when  my  card  was 


6o  MRS.  ALEXANDER. 

sent  in  by  the  valet,  and  I  was  very  cordially 
received  by  "My  Lord"  the  Right  Rev.  William 
Alexander,  D.  D. 

He  is  an  exceedingly  genial  man,  simple  as  a 
child,  with  an  open,  kind,  and  benevolent  counte- 
nance. He  has  brilliant  attainments:  is  a  clever 
writer  of  prose,  and  a  poet  of  no  mean  order.  As 
a  speaker  he  is  eloquent,  possessing  unbounded 
enthusiasm.  He  has  a  vivid  imagination ;  and  his 
illustrations,  drawn  from  extensive  reading  and 
kept  ready  for  use  by  a  retentive  memory,  are  apt 
and  poetical.  Before  the  disestablishment  of  the 
Irish  Episcopal  church,  in  1869,  he  held  a  seat  in 
the  British  House  of  Lords.  He  is  a  Tory  in 
politics,  and  a  landlord  in  a  small  way;  conse- 
quently he  is  not  an  admirer  of  the  "grand  old 
man,"  William  E.  Gladstone.  Being  an  American, 
and  supposed  to  be  as  ignorant  of  British  politics 
as  the  average  Briton  is  of  American  affairs,  an 
excellent  opportunity  was  presented  for  getting 
his  views  by  asking  him  a  few  leading  questions. 
His  wife  is  the  gifted  poet,  Mrs.  Cecil  F.  Alexan- 
der, the  writer  of  religious  hymns  sung  in  thou- 
sands of  churches  every  Sunday,  on  each  side  of 
the  Atlantic.  She  is  the  author  of  one  of  the 
sweetest,  smoothest  poems  in  the  English  tongue, 
which  is  known  wherever  the  English  language  is 
spoken.     It  is  "The  Burial  of  Moses." 


HOME   OF  THE  POET.  6 1 

"And  he  buried  him  in  a  valley  in  the  land  of  Moab,  over  against  Beth- 
peor,  but  no  man  knoweth  the  place  of  his  sepulchre  unto  this  day."— 
Deut.  XXXIV:  6. 

"  By  Nebo's  lonely  mountain, 
On  this  side  Jordan's  wave, 
In  a  vale  in  the  land  of  Moab, 

There  lies  a  lonely  grave ; 
And  no  man  dug  that  sepulchre. 

And  no  man  saw  it  e'er, 
For  the  angel  of  God  upturned  the  sod. 
And  laid  the  dead  man  there." 

This  was  familiar,  as  were  many  of  her  hymns. 
It  seemed  strange  that  one  who  had  read  and 
admired  her  writings  so  much,  Hving  upon  the 
other  side  of  the  ocean,  knowing  nothing  of  her 
personal  history  nor  of  her  place  of  residence, 
should  cross  the  Atlantic,  and  in  visiting  a  place 
made  sacred  to  him  by  the  sufferings  of  his  fore- 
fathers, should  enter  the  house  and  home  of  the 
gifted  and  sweet-singing  author.  This  was  alluded 
to  in  conversation  with  the  Bishop,  and  regret 
expressed  that  she  could  not  be  met,  as  she  was 
then  in  England. 

The  interview  was  exceedingly  enjoyable.  An 
invitation  to  lunch,  on  a  subsequent  day,  I  was 
unable  to  accept.  He  gave  me  a  letter  to  Dean 
Smiley,  and  placed  the  records  of  the  cathedral  at 
my  disposal.  He  also  kindly  urged  upon  me  the 
loan  of  two  books, — the  History  of  the  Alexander 
Family.  Upon  consulting  them,  what  was  my  sur- 
prise to  find  that  the  author  was  the  Rev.  Charles 
Rodgers,  LL.  D.,  of  Grampian  Lodge,  Forest  Hill, 
London,  to  whom  I  had  once  been  referred  for 


62  THE  FAMOUS   CATHEDRAL. 

information.  A  rather  stilted,  curt  reply  was  writ- 
ten me,  with  the  statement  that  if  I  would  send 
him  ^lo  he  would  give  me  the  information.  The 
book,  like  the  work  of  many  British  professional 
genealogists,  was  poorly  gotten  up,  and  reflected 
no  great  credit  on  the  author. 

Dean  Smiley  called  upon  me  at  the  hotel,  and 
very  kindly  invited  me  to  make  use  of  his  private 
study  while  consulting  the  records.  He  showed 
me  over  the  celebrated  cathedral,  where  my  an- 
cestors, with  other  Protestants,  worshipped  during 
the  siege.  How  it  thrilled  me  as  I  stood  within 
the  consecrated  walls  of  that  house  where  they  had 
so  often  gathered,  whose  floor  had  been  pressed 
by  their  feet,  whose  walls  had  heard  the  words  of 
their  religious  teachers,  echoed  with  their  sup- 
plications in  times  of  grief  and  disaster,  and  re- 
sounded with  their  words  of  thanksg-ivino-  and 
songs  of  praise  in  the  hour  of  their  supremest  joy 
and  great  deliverance !  There  was  the  elegant 
and  elaborately  carved  organ,  upon  which  they 
had  looked,  and  to  whose  music  they  had  listened, 
— unless  their  stern  Presbyterian  hearts,  as  might 
be  the  case,  discountenanced  instrumental  music 
in  their  worship.  The  old  flagstaffs,  captured 
from  the  French,  hang  above  the  altar.  Though 
the  church  has  been  renovated,  yet  the  same  high 
arches  as  in  1688  are  still  there.  In  the  vestibule 
is  the  hollow  bomb  discharged  into  the  city  by 
King  James,  in  which  were  his  demand  for  the 


GENEALOGICAL  DIFFICULTIES.  63 

surrender  of  the  town  and  his  terms  for  its  capit- 
ulation. 

It  was  a  great  privilege  and  pleasure  to  visit 
the  place,  and  attend  service  within  its  walls.  Its 
very  floor  seemed  to  echo  with  the  tread  of  by- 
gone generations,  and  its  walls  to  speak  to  every 
sensitive,  poetical  soul,  of  grand,  heroic,  glorious 
memories. 

From  the  records  of  the  baptisms,  marriages, 
and  burials  of  this  parish  of  Templemore,  I  copied 
several  pages  relating  to  family  names  familiar  on 
this  side  of  the  sea — down  to  1740.  There  were 
the  names  of  Allison,  Anderson,  Armstrong,  Bar- 
net,  Barr,  Bell,  Bolton,  Boyd,  Caldwell,  Campbell, 
Clendennin,  Cochran,  Cunningham,  Davidson, 
Dunbar,  Fisher,  Hopkins,  Holland,  Hunter,  Jack, 
Kerr,  Kile,  Kinkead,  McAllister,  Mitchell,  Mont- 
gomery, Morrison,  Moore,  Nesmith,  Orr,  Park, 
Patterson,  Patton,  Pinkerton,  Ramsey,  Rankin, 
Read,  Rogers,  Simpson,  Steele,  Stuart,  Thorn, 
Thompson,  Vance,  Wallace,  and  Wilson. 

There  is  great  difficulty  in  connecting  families 
in  America  with  families  in  Ireland,  especially  if 
any  considerable  length  of  time  has  elapsed  since 
the  emigration  to  this  country.  The  larger  part 
of  the  people  were  tenants,  and  not  land-owners, 
and  so  cannot  be  traced,  as  here,  by  the  records  of 
transfer  of  real  estate.  In  Ireland  and  in  England 
all  the  business  done  by  probate  judges  in  the 
New  England  states,  such  as  the  jurisdiction  ol 


64  FAMILY  RECORDS. 

wills  and  the  administration  of  the  estates  of  in- 
testates, was  with  the  bishops  of  the  church  estab- 
lished and  recognized  by  law, — sometimes  the 
Roman  Catholic,  and  later  the  Episcopal  church; 
and  this  continued  till  a  few  years  after  the  com- 
mencement of  Queen  Victoria's  reign.  No  law 
was  in  existence — or  none  was  enforced — requir- 
ing the  record  and  dates  of  marriages,  births,  and 
deaths  to  be  kept,  till  within  forty  years.  The  only 
possible  chance  now  to  find  anything  of  value  is 
occasionally  to  get  a  record  kept  by  some  method- 
ical and  conscientious  Catholic  priest  or  Presby- 
terian clergyman,  and  which  may  be  unearthed  in 
some  unlooked  for  locality. 

Wishing  to  find  lists,  if  possible,  of  emigrants 
who  had  come  to  New  England  between  17 18 
and  1740,  I  went  to  the  oldest  shipping-houses  in 
Londonderry,  Coleraine,  Port  Rush,  Belfast,  and 
Glasgow,  and  looked  in  all  other  probable  and 
improbable  places,  to  get  such  intelligence;  but 
not  a  particle  could  be  obtained.  A  letter  ad- 
dressed to  the  Board  of  Trade  elicited  this  reply: 

Board  of  Trade,  Marine  Department. 
Whitehall  Gardens,  S.  W. 

London,  loth  April,  1884. 

EMIGRATION. 

Sir: — I  am  directed  by  the  Board  of  Trade  to 
acknowledge  the  receipt  of  3"our  letter  of  the  5th 
instant,  asking  for  information  respecting  lists  of 
emigrants  who  sailed  for  America  between  the  years 
1718  and  1740;  and  in  reply,  to  inform  you  that,  so 


BEAUTIFUL   ABODE   OF  THE  DEAD.  65 

far  as  the  Board  are  aware,  there  are  no  such  lists 
in  existence.     I  am,  Sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

J.     SWANSTON. 

Leonard  A.  Aforrtson,  Esq., 

General  Post- Office,  Glasgow. 

One  delightful  Sunday  afternoon  I  took  a  stroll 
through  the  Bishop's  gate,  and  met  a  squad  of  the 
"  Salvation  army,"  with  its  shouting,  its  jubilant 
songs,  and  its  waving  banners,  and  passed  down  a 
sharply  descending  street,  on  either  side  of  which 
were  the  wretched  homes  of  the  very  poor.  In 
the  valley  is  a  private  park  of  a  Mr.  Holmes,  who 
showed  me  over  his  grounds.  There  were  large 
trees  heavily  covered  with  Irish  ivy,  and  the  walks 
were  finely  laid  out:  the  cottage  in  the  midst  of 
the  garden,  surrounded  by  differing  shrubs  of  the 
greenest  green,  and  the  beds  of  flowers,  made  it 
a  delightful  place.  Passing  on,  the  ascending 
ground  soon  touched  the  location  of  the  ceme- 
tery. It  covers  thirty  acres,  and  is  artistically  laid 
out  on  the  sloping  hillside,  overlooking  the  dark 
waters  of  the  river  Foyle,  and  commanding  a  view 
of  the  city.  Walker's  pillar,  the  cathedral,  and  the 
shipping  in  the  harbor.  Catholics  and  Protestants 
are  buried  there,  though  the  former  occupy  a  part 
by  themselves.  The  day  was  warm,  clear,  and  sun- 
ny; and  several  hours  were  spent  in  examining 
lots,  walks,  and  monuments.  Many  familiar  patro- 
nymics were  found  upon  the  memorial  tablets. 
There  were  the  names  of  Clark,  Ramsay,  Gilmorc, 


66  HOME  OF  CONSUL  LIVERMORE. 

and  others.  I  wandered  among  the  mounds  of 
earth,  thought  of  the  quiet  sleepers,  and  mused 
on  the  wonderful  history  of  those  localities. 
When  the  declining  sun  was  touching  the  hill- 
tops and  cathedral  spire  with  his  last  beams, 
and  deeper  shadows  rested  upon  the  Foyle,  I  de- 
parted for  the  city,  going  to  the  Strand,  by  the 
market  and  the  soldiers'  barracks,  past  the  post- 
office  to  Foyle  street,  to  Jewry  hotel,  and  across 
the  city  to  Bishop  street,  where  I  met  the  Hon. 
Arthur  Livermore,  U.  S.  consul,  with  Mrs.  Liver- 
more,  who  invited  me  to  accompany  them  to  an 
evening  service  in  the  cathedral,  where  Bishop 
Alexander  preached  a  very  able  sermon  on  the 
''Lost  son."  After  service,  a  pleasant  evening 
was  spent  at  their  lovely  home.  Their  residence 
is  delightfully  situated,  in  the  new  section  of  the 
city,  not  far  distant  from  the  spot  where,  in  1689, 
the  boom  was  stretched  across  the  Foyle.  Mr. 
Livermore  is  a  son  of  the  late  Chief-Justice  Liver- 
more  of  New  Hampshire,  and  in  1884  had  been 
consul  for  thirteen  years.  He  still  retains  an  abid- 
ing and  lively  interest  in  his  native  state.  Mrs. 
Livermore  presides  charmingly  over  their  hospit- 
able home,  at  which  I  was  a  frequent  visitor ;  and 
should  this  sketch  meet  their  eyes,  they  will  know 
how  fully  I  appreciated  their  great  kindness, — with 
that  of  her  brother,  Mr.  Robert  Prince,  a  former 
resident  of  Lowell,  Mass. 

Many  of  the  customs  of  the  British  government 


THE  LUDICROUS  COURT.  6/ 

seem  absurd.  The  court  of  assizes  was  to  be 
opened  in  the  city.  A  squad  of  mounted  con- 
stabulary met  the  judge  at  the  railway  station, 
escorted  him  to  his  lodgings,  and  waited  until  he 
was  prepared  to  go  to  the  court-house.  Two  sen- 
tinels pace  back  and  forth  all  day  long  in  front  of 
the  house  of  the  judge.  Wanting  to  see  this 
ludicrous  scene,  I  repaired  to  the  court-house  and 
awaited  the  coming  of  the  great  genius  who  was 
to  preside  in  their  little  court  in  that  contempti- 
ble litde  court-room.  A  loud  murmur  showed 
that  the  illustrious  ones  were  drawing  near.  A 
line  of  people  stood  on  either  side  with  uncovered 
heads.  The  sheriff  was  there  with  his  brilliant 
equipage.  The  mayor  dressed  in  official  robes, 
and  others  with  velvet  breeches  and  knee-buckles 
and  staffs  of  office,  were  about  us.  The  judo-e 
and  lawyers  came,  with  powdered  wigs  and  clad 
in  robes.  With  much  "fuss  and  feathers"  they 
got  the  judge  into  his  box  in  the  court-house. 
And  such  a  court-house !  It  would  not  be  tol- 
erated in  New  England,  and  is  a  disgrace  to  any 
civilized  community.  It  was  as  primitive  in  de- 
sign and  architecture  as  though  it  had  been  taken 
bodily  out  of  Noah's  ark.  But  anything  ancient, 
disagreeable,  unhandy,  and  generally  old-fashion- 
ed and  uncomfortable,  is  very  dear  and  precious 
in  the  eyes  of  the  majority  of  Britons!  It  must 
have  cost  somebody  at  least  one  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  to  have  taken  the  judge  from  the  sta- 


68  THE  SHAMROCK  AND   ORANGE. 

tion  to  the  court-house.  Some  one  pays  for  it ; 
and  this  expense  eventually  comes  out  of  the 
people.  It  was  senseless  snobbery.  No  wonder 
the  people  are  poor,  and  complain  of  government 
taxes.  The  time  is  rapidly  coming  when  these 
abuses  will  be  rectified. 

On  St.  Patrick's  day,  March  17,  trouble  was 
apprehended.  The  Nationalists  advertised  a  dem- 
onstration, or,  rather,  the  Catholics  were  going  to 
celebrate,  and  would  make  a  political  demonstra- 
tion of  it.  The  Protestants,  or  Orangemen,  con- 
cluded to  have  a  counter-demonstration.  When 
such  things  occur,  more  or  less  Irishmen  remem- 
ber the  day  by  broken  heads.  The  government 
stopped  both  demonstrations,  A  large  body  of 
Irish  constabulary  were  called  into  the  city,  who 
patrolled  the  walls  and  streets.  The  people  were 
uneasy  and  waspish.  The  shamrock  and  the  or- 
ange blossom  were  worn  by  thousands,  but  the 
day  passed  without  trouble.  Upon  the  walls  I 
met  a  magnificent  member  of  the  constabulary 
from  the  county  of  Donegal.  He  was  six  feet 
four  and  a  half  inches  in  height,  and  heavily  built. 
In  answer  to  an  inquiry  if  he  was  a  sample  of  the 
men  in  Donegal,  he  said  he  was  so  diminutive  in 
stature  that  he  could  command  no  respect  in  his 
father's  family ;  that  he  had  four  brothers  who 
were  each  six  feet  five  and  a  half  inches  in  height, 
and  heavier  than  he  proportionately. 

On  the   way  to   Omagh  and   Enniskillen,  the 


I 


RUIArS  ON  DEVENISH  ISLAND.  69 

thick  black  clouds  hung  over  the  mountains  of 
Donegal,  and  soon  the  rain  and  hail  beat  fiercely 
against  the  roof  and  sides  of  the  carriage.  This 
was  not  long  continued,  for  the  sun  broke  through 
the  clouds,  and  the  day  again  became  clear  and 
cheerful.  It  is  never  safe  to  travel  without  an 
umbrella.  It  may  be  bright  sunshine,  and  in  ten 
minutes  black  clouds  will  obscure  the  sky,  and  the 
rain  be  falling  rapidly. 

Enniskillen  was  an  important  town  during  the 
war  of  1688-89,  and  contains  5,000  people. 
Some  portions  are  interesting,  and  the  important 
relics  of  the  past  are  the  Round  tower  and  the 
remains  of  an  old  abbey,  which  are  of  great 
interest. 

They  are  situated  on  Devenish  island,  in  Lower 
Lough  Erne,  two  and  a  half  miles  from  the  city. 
Devenish  is  beautifully  green.  The  Round  tower 
is  eighty-four  feet  high,  forty-eight  feet  in  circum- 
ference, and  its  walls  are  nearly  three  and  a  half 
feet  thick.  The  door  is  nine  feet  from  the  ground. 
The  tower  is  neatly  built  of  stones  about  a  foot 
square,  with  scarcely  any  mortar  or  cement,  while 
the  inside  is  perfectly  smooth.  Near  by  are  the 
ruins  of  the  abbey,  and  the  two  church-yards  are 
filled  with  debris,  tumbled  down  walls,  and  broken 
monuments. 

At  Enniskillen  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  a 
family  of  Morrisons,  in  which  familiar  Christian 
names  appeared.     The  evening  was  spent  at  the 


70  THE  ENNISKILLEN  MORRISONS. 

home  of  Mrs.  Hamilton  Morrison.  The  ancestors 
of  this  family  were  at  the  siege  in  1688-89.  The 
family  is  very  intellig-ent.  One  of  its  members 
is  a  writer  of  religious  hymns,  and  a  portion  of  one 
is  here  introduced. 

JESUS. 

BY   WILLIAM   HENRY   MORRISON. 

Jesus,  Lord  and  Master, 

At  thy  feet  I  bow, 
And  my  soul  doth  cast  her 

Self  upon  thee  now. 

Jesus,  all  excelling. 

Lend  a  gracious  ear. 
By  thy  love  expelling 

Every  doubt  and  fear. 

And  my  soul  shall  bless  thee 

All  my  happy  days. 
And  I  shall  confess  thee 

Lord,  in  all  my  ways, — 

Till,  when  death  the  story 

Of  my  life  shall  end, 
I  shall  see  thy  glory, 

Jesus,  Master,  Friend ! 

Coleshill,  Enniskillen,  Ireland. 

From  Enniskillen  to  Ballyshannon  the  scen- 
ery is  lovely.  The  waters  of  Lough  Erne,  the 
Windermere  of  Ireland,  with  old  castles  upon  its 
banks,  have  many  attractions.  On  the  opposite 
side  of  the  lake  are  the  mountains  of  Leitrim. 
These  were  lit  up  with  the  glories  of  the  sunset 
as  we  passed  by  them.     My  stay  at  the  unpleas- 


BARNESMORE   GAP.  7 1 

ant  town  of  Ball3-shannon  was  short.  On  Sunday 
I  attended  the  Episcopal  church,  whose  pastor  is 
Rev.  Mr.  Cochran,  a  member  of  a  family  resident 
in  Ireland  since  1688  or  1689,  at  least.  The  jour- 
ney was  continued  fourteen  miles  by  jaunting-car 
to  Donegal,  which  is  romantically  situated  on  the 
west  coast.  The  harbor  is  beautiful,  with  its  islands 
rising  out  of  the  waters.  There  are  ruined  cas- 
tles, which  Cromwell  destroyed.  The  old  castle 
of  Donegal,  once  the  family  seat  of  the  O'Don- 
nells,  is  interesting.  Here  is  pointed  out  the 
monastery  in  which  was  written  the  "Annals  of 
the  Four  Masters."  Like  most  Irish  towns,  Don- 
egal has  an  excellent  market-place,  shaped  like  a 
diamond.  I  had  a  pleasant  interview  with  Rev. 
Robert  M.  Morrison,  of  the  Enniskillen  family. 

The  road  from  Donegal  to  Londonderry  leads 
through  some  of  the  wildest  scenery  in  Ireland. 
We  rode  through  the  romantic  pass  of  "  Barnes- 
more  gap,"  a  deep,  ragged  glen,  four  miles  long, 
walled  in  by  mountains  rising  1,700  feet — one  of 
the  most  magnificent  defiles  in  Ireland.  On  one 
side  the  mountains,  rough,  bold,  and  bare,  rose 
hundreds  of  feet  above  us.  Beneath  us  was  the 
valley,  through  which  a  river  rushed  over  its  rocky 
bed,  singing  a  sweet  song,  the  universal  music  of 
rushing  waters.  Beyond  the  river,  and  higher  up, 
was  the  highway,  while  towering  above  it  were 
the  heathery  mountains.  On  high  elevations  were 
vast  plains  of  peat  beds,  many  feet  in  depth.    Ire- 


72  THE  PARKS. 

land  is  full  of  them,  and  they  look  as  bare  and 
brown  and  desolate  as  though  they  marked  the 
place  of  vanished  seas. 

In  the  Scotch  settlement  at  Upper  Octorara, 
Chester  county,  Penn.,  were  many  persons  of  the 
Scotch  name  of  Park.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
Scotch  settlement  of  Windham,  N.  H. — a  family 
intellectually  strong  in  each  settlement.  The  late 
Dr.  John  Park,  and  his  son,  Hon.  John  C.  Park, 
of  Boston,  are  distinguished  representatives  of 
the  latter  family.  Each  family,  originally  Scotch, 
emigrated  from  Ireland  to  America.  On  March 
27  I  left  Londonderry  for  St.  Johnston,  to  see 
the  Parks,  and  found  three  families.  The  Chris- 
tian names  of  James,  Robert,  Alexander,  and 
others  of  the  New  Hampshire  family,  cropped  out 
there  in  each  generation.  I  saw  Mr.  James  Park, 
very  aged ;  and  Robert  John  Park,  a  bright,  clear- 
headed young  man  of  twenty-five  years  of  age, 
was  son  of  Alexander  Park,  and  has  brothers, 
Joseph  and  Robert.  The  Park  family  of  New 
Hampshire  descended  from  Alexander  Park,  who 
came  to  New  Hampshire  in  1728,  and  is  one  of 
strongly  defined  family  looks  and  mental  charac- 
teristics. This  Mr.  Park  had  the  same  eyes,  the 
same  complexion,  and  the  same  family  looks;  and 
the  name  of  Alexander  has  been  a  prominent  one 
in  his  family,  as  in  the  New  Hampshire  family,  for 
generations.  While  the  connection  between  the 
families   could   not  be   proven,   it  most  certainly 


LAST  GLIMPSE   OF  LONDONDERRY.  73 

existed.  There  are  many  of  the  name  at  Coleraine 
and  at  SHgo. 

At  Londonderry  I  was  hospitably  entertained 
by  Dr.  Morrison,  a  graduate  of  Dublin  University, 
and  at  the  attractive  home  of  Mr.  Dean,  who  was 
connected  with  the  families  of  Armstrong  and 
Morrison.  The  time  was  at  hand  when  my  visit 
to  Londonderry  was  to  end.  During  my  stay  of 
two  weeks,  the  great  courtesy,  kindness,  and  at- 
tention shown  me  were  appreciated.  Most  agree- 
able acquaintances  w^ere  made,  and  the  pleasant 
hours  at  the  firesides  of  its  people  are  gratefully 
remembered. 

On  March  28  I  started  for  Coleraine  —  left 
pleasant  friends,  the  cathedral  with  its  sky-point- 
ing spire,  its  historic  arches,  and  the  resting- 
places  of  its  mighty  dead;  left  the  old  walls  so 
noted  in  history — and  was  whirled  rapidly  along 
the  banks  of  the  friendly  Foyle,  past  the  spot 
where  the  boom  was  stretched  across  the  river  in 
the  war  of  1688-89.  I  turned  my  eyes  to  catch 
one  more  view  of  the  receding  town,  and  with 
that  parting  glimpse  the  historic  city  faded  from 
my  view. 

The  route  lay  alongside  of  land  reclaimed  from 
the  river,  and  through  ragged  mountains  pierced 
with  short  tunnels.  Castle  Rock  was  soon  reached, 
where  I  was  the  guest  of  Rev.  James  Armstrong,  of 
whom  and  the  clan  of  Armstrong  a  notice  will  be 
given  in  my  account  of  the  Scottish  border.  This 
4* 


74  GREEN  CASTLE  NEAR  MOVILLE. 

is  a  romantic  place.    The  river  Bann  empties  into 
the  Atlantic  at  this  point. 

In  plain  view  from  the  high  bluff  was  the 
"Green  castle"  near  Moville.  The  U.  S.  consul 
at  Londonderry,  Mr.  Livermore,  had  heard  a  sim- 
ple ballad  concerning  it  sung  by  the  Scotch  peo- 
ple in  Holderness,  N.  H.  It  had  been  carried  to 
America  by  the  Scotch  settlers  more  than  150 
years  ago.  Extracts  from  it  he  gave  me.  Having 
received  it  on  the  old  halting  ground  in  Ireland, 
it  is  brought  again  to  America,  and  put  in  print  as 
a  relic,  an  echo  of  a  far-away  song,  whose  sweet- 
ness has  not  wholly  died  away. 

"  On  yonder  high  mountain  a  castle  doth  stand, 
All  decked  with  green  ivy  from  the  top  to  the  strand. 

*  *  * 

Beneath  that  high  castle  an  ocean  doth  flow ; 
Ships  from  the  East  Indies  to  Derry  do  go, 
With  red  flags  a-flying  and  firing  of  guns, 
Sweet  instruments  of  music  and  beating  of  drums." 

In  old  times  the  East  India  Company  annually 
sent  a  ship  to  Londonderry,  but  this  custom 
ceased  long  ago. 

At  Coleraine,  on  registering  at  the  Corpora- 
tion Arms  hotel,  a  cordial  greeting  was  received 
from  a  party  watching  for  my  coming.  This  place 
on  the  river  Bann,  four  miles  from  the  ocean,  has 
a  population  of  6,000.  In  the  "diamond"  is  a 
public  fountain.  On  one  side  are  engraved  the 
names  of  individuals:  on  the  opposite,  over  the 
flowing  stream,  is  this  inscription,  "He  that  drink- 


THE  DINS  MOORS.  75 

eth  of  this  water  shall  thirst  again,"  etc.  The 
place  was  of  much  interest  to  me,  because  it  was  a 
centre  of  country  from  which  came  the  Scotch 
settlers  of  Windham,  Londonderry,  Antrim,  New 
Boston,  Bedford,  and  many  other  towns  in  New 
Hampshire. 

John  Dinsmoor,  the  son  of  John  Dinsmoor,  a 
Scotchman,  who  had  settled  in  County  Antrim, 
Ireland^  came  to  Windham,  New  Hampshire,  as 
early  as  1724.  His  descendants  are  represented 
by  the  two  Samuel  Dinsmoors — father  and  son — 
who  were  governors  of  the  state;  Hon.  James 
Dinsmoor,  lawyer  and  author,  of  Sterling,  111. ; 
Col.  Silas  Dinsmoor,  the  celebrated  Indian  agent; 
and  Hon.  William  B.  Dinsmore,  president  of  the 
Adams  Express  Co.,  of  New  York  city.  Wishing 
to  see  members  of  the  family  in  Ireland,  it  was  a 
pleasure  to  meet  James  Dinsmoor  and  sons,  from 
Muff,  a  few  miles  from  Londonderry,  whose  fam- 
ily bore  the  familiar  names  of  Ephraim,  James, 
and  John.  In  Coleraine  was  James  Dinsmoor  and 
his  family.  He  had  numerous  connections  at  Ma- 
cosquin,  three  miles  away.  He  is  connected  with 
the  Dinsmoors  in  New  Hampshire,  and  is  familiar 
with  the  early  history  of  the  family.  In  County 
Antrim,  in  the  town  of  Kells,  near  Ballemena,  are 
John  and  Francis  Dinsmoor,  linen  and  woollen 
manufacturers — intelligent,  fine  men,  who  belong 
to  another  branch  of  this  family. 

At  Priestland  still  live  the  Pattersons,  and  when 


'J^  THE   OLD  HOME. 

not  long  since  a  local  gentleman  of  note  died,  six 
tall,  stalwart  men  of  this  family  bore  him  to  his 
rest.  The  New  Hampshire  branch  which  came 
from  that  place  is  large  and  influential,  and  is  rep- 
resented by  the  silver-tongued  orator,  Hon.  James 
W.  Patterson,  formerly  U.  S.  senator  from  New 
Hampshire,  and  present  superintendent  of  public 
instruction,  and  the  late  Hon.  George  W.  Patter- 
son, member  of  congress  and  lieutenant-governor 
of  New  York. 

Aghadowey,  six  miles  from  Coleraine,  is  the 
locality  from  which  came  Rev.  James  McGregor 
and  a  portion  of  his  flock  to  Londonderry,  N.  H., 
in  1718-19.  He  was  settled  over  that  parish 
from  1 701-17 18,  when  he  resigned  and  came  to 
America.'^  Before  leaving  that  place  he  preached 
to  his  flock  from  Exodus  33:  15 — "If  thy  pres- 
ence go  not  with  me,  carry  us  not  up  hence."  He 
recounted  the  reasons  for  leaving  their  homes,  and 
seeking  an  asylum  in  the  American  wilderness, 
"They  were  to  avoid  oppressions  and  cruel  bond- 
age, to  shun  persecution  and  designed  ruin,  to 
withdraw  from  the  communion  of  idolaters,  to 
have  an  opportunity  of  worshipping  God  accord- 
ing to  the  dictates  of  conscience  and  the  rules  of 
his  inspired  word." 


*  See  Historical  and  Literary  Memorials  of  Presbyterianism  in  Ireland, 
1623-1800,  2  vols.,  published  in  1879  ^Y  Prof.  Thomas  Withrow,  of  Magee 
college,  Londonderry,  Ireland,  and  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Ireland,  3  vols.,  by  James  Beaton  Reid,  D.  D.,  which  are  m  the  state 
library  at  Concord,  N.  H. 


NOTED  MEN.  yy 

So,  most  intimately  connected,  are  Aghadowey, 
county  of  Londonderry,  Ireland,  and  Londonderry 
and  Windham,  New  Hampshire.  As  he  preached 
to  his  people  on  the  eve  of  their  departure  from 
their  homes  in  Aghadowey  in  1718,  so,  on  the 
23d  day  of  April,  1719,  he  spoke  to  his  reunited 
flock  in  their  new  home  in  Londonderry,  N.  H. 

On  the  east  side  of  Tsienneto  lake,  under  the 
spreading  branches  of  a  great  oak,  he  preached 
from  Isaiah  32  :  2 — "And  a  man  shall  be  as  a  hid- 
ing-place from  the  wind,  and  a  covert  from  the 
tempest,  as  rivers  of  water  in  a  dry  place,  as  the 
shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land." 

The  first  sixteen  settlers  were  James  McKeen, 
John  Barnet,  Archibald  Clendennin,  John  Mitchell, 
James  Starrett,  James  Anderson,  Randall  Alexan- 
der, James  Gregg,  James  Clark,  James  Nesmith, 
Allen  Anderson,  Robert  Weir,  John  Morrison, 
Samuel  Allison,  Thomas  Steele,  John  Stuart ;  and 
later,  the  Rankins,  Caldwells,  Cochrans,  Clydes, 
Dinsmoors,  and  other  Morrisons. 

The  Nesmith  family  of  New  Hampshire  has  had 
as  representatives  the  Hon.  John  Nesmith,  lieu- 
tenant-governor of  Massachusetts,  George  W. 
Nesmith,  LL.  D.,  of  Franklin,  N.  H.,  and  Hon. 
James  W.  Nesmith,  U.  S.  senator  from  Oregon. 

The  Cochrans  have  noted  men,  and  among 
them  are  the  late  Judge  Silas  M.  Cochran,  of  Bal- 
timore, Md.,  and  Rev.  Warren  R.  Cochrane,  au- 
thor, preacher,  and  poet,  of  Antrim,  N.  H, 


78  FAMILIAR  NAMES. 

Some,  and  most  probably  all,  of  the  Morrisons 
came  from  this  parish.  They  are  represented  by 
Hon.  George  W.  Morrison,  late  member  of  con- 
gress. Judge  Charles  R.  Morrison,  lawyer  and 
author,  of  Manchester,  N.  H.,  Rev.  John  H.  Mor- 
ison,  D.  D.,  clergyman  and  author,  Boston,  Mass., 
and  his  brother,  Nathaniel  H.  Morison,  LL.  D., 
teacher  and  author,  and  provost  of  the  Peabody 
Institute,  Baltimore,  Md.,  and  Hon.  Thomas  F. 
Morrison,  of  Londonderry,  Nova  Scotia.  The  list 
might  be  swelled  of  the  distinguished  descendants 
of  the  Scotch  emigrants  from  that  parish  in  Ire- 
land. 

The  Caldwells  of  Windham  were  from  Garvagh. 
I  received  this  unique  specimen  from  a  Coleraine 
paper.  The  writer  said, — "I  have  a  family  Bible 
in  my  possession  which  belonged  to  my  deceased 
grandfather,  and  on  the  title-page  I  find  it  re- 
corded that  an  ancestor  of  mine,  James  Caldwell, 
of  Killure,  Macosquin,  emigrated  in  1671,  some 
200  years  ago,  to  Londonderry,  County  Windham, 
state  of  Vermont."  The  fact  of  the  emigration  is 
unquestioned,  but  the  dates  and  geographical 
description  are  at  fault. 

Rev.  Matthew  Clark,  of  Kilrea,  three  miles  dis- 
tant, was  the  second  minister  of  Londonderry, 
N.  H. 

The  people  in  the  settlements  of  Kilrea,  Gar- 
vagh, Aghadowey,  and  others  are  distinctly  Scotch, 
after  a  residence  of  200  years.    Marriages  between 


HOSPITABLY  ENTERTAINED.  79 

the  native  Irish  and  the  Scotch  settlers  have  rare- 
ly occurred,  the  people  being  kept  apart  by  their 
religious  differences  and  the  sharp  feuds  of  race. 
I  have  met  and  heard  talk  in  some  of  the  settle- 
ments persons  with  the  Scotch  dialect,  with  the 
rich  brogue  which  was  occasionally  heard  in  my 
childhood. 

The  names  of  Barnet,  Mitchell,  Starrett,  Ander- 
son, Alexander,  Gregg,  Clark,  Weir,  Stuart,  Dins- 
moor,  Rankin,  Park,  Clyde,  Cochran,  and  Morri- 
son are  common  in  Aghadowey,  Garvagh,  and 
other  parishes. 

I  was  most  hospitably  entertained  by  a  clans- 
man, Mr.  William  Morrison,  of  Garfield  Grange, 
Crockendolge,  Garvagh,  the  father  of  Hon.  Robert 
Morrison,  a  prominent  lawyer  of  Washington, 
D.  C.  Very  gladly  was  the  opportunity  embraced 
of  entering  the  homes  of  these  intelligent  and  ex- 
cellent people. 

It  was  a  great  pleasure  to  visit  the  family  of 
Hugh  R.  Morrison,  Esq.  He  is  a  magistrate,  and 
one  of  the  sub-land-commissioners  under  Glad- 
stone's land  act.  Having  had  correspondence  with 
him  several  years  ago,  my  reception  was  most  kind. 
He  is  finely  situated,  at  Money  Dig,  Garvagh. 
One  son  of  Mr.  Morrison  is  a  Presbyterian  cler- 
gyman, one  a  physician,  while  another  overlooks 
the  large  estate.  On  his  estate  are  ancient  earth- 
works, circular  in  form,  including  a  large  area. 
Evidently  in  centuries  long  gone   they  enclosed 


8o  ANCIENT  TRIBAL  DWELLINGS. 

the  tribal  dwellings  of  the  ancient  inhabitants. 
The  artificially  constructed  elevations  were  for 
their  protection,  and  the  excavations  beneath  were 
their  store-houses.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  there 
was  found  a  ball  of  butter  a  foot  in  diameter, 
which  is  retained  as  a  curiosity.  The  lapse  of 
centuries  has  dried  and  lightened  it,  but  one  can 
easily  insert  a  knife  and  discover  its  character. 

The  old  home  of  the  Rankin  family  was  shown 
me.  A  wealthy  member  of  this  family  now  lives 
in  St.  Louis. 

I  was  entertained  at  the  hospitable  home  of 
Mr.  William  McKeeman,  of  Garvagh.  One  of  the 
strange  wild  sights  in  Ireland,  and  also  in  Scotland, 
were  whole  plantations  of  trees  which  a  great  gale 
had  levelled  with  the  earth  and  thrown  into  the 
most  inextricable  confusion.  The  larofe  linen 
bleachino-  establishments  are  curiosities.  The 
linen  in  long  rolls  was  taken  into  the  green  fields 
and  spread  out  for  bleaching.  Whole  acres  were 
covered  with  it,  making  a  peculiar  but  pleasing 
sight. 

My  next  objective  point  was  Giant's  Causeway. 
I  passed  through  Portrush,  a  place  from  which 
many  emigrants  sailed  to  America.  It  is  a  bold 
headland  projecting  into  the  broad  Atlantic.  The 
scenic  beauties  along  the  coast  are  perfectly  en- 
chanting. Taking  the  electric  railway  for  Bush- 
mills, we  passed  the  ruined  but  remarkable  castle 
of  Dunluce,  overlooking  the  sea.     The  railway  is 


WONDERS  OF  GIANT'S  CAUSEWAY.  8 1 

perfection  itself,  and  is  three  miles  in  length.  A 
large  waterfall  is  utilized  to  generate  the  electric- 
ity, and  the  car  has  no  visible  motive  power. 

It  was  the  first  of  April,  and  what  a  day  at  the 
Causeway — so  bright  and  clear  and  sunny!  Not  a 
cloud  was  to  be  seen.  From  the  hio-h  bluffs  the 
blue  depths  were  beneath  and  the  deep  blue  above 
us.  The  bending  heavens  shone  brightly  on  the 
unrestful  wafers  of  the  bay.  The  sea-gulls  in 
rapid  flight  uttered  sharp  cries  as  they  plunged 
their  beaks  beneath  the  surface  of  the  sea,  or 
rested  their  weary  and  snowy  forms  upon  its  heav- 
ing bosom.  The  high  cliff's  were  above  and  around 
us,  and  the  deep  caves  from  their  ponderous  cav- 
erns rolled  back  the  echoing  notes  of  the  ocean's 
wild,  weird  song. 

There  are  40,000  pillars  of  basaltic  rock,  dark 
as  slate,  and  so  close  together  that  the  blade  of  a 
knife  cannot  be  inserted  between  them.  They 
were  placed  there  by  the  mysterious  and  mighty 
powers  of  nature,  and  usually  are  five,  six,  or 
seven  sided.  The  exposed  ends  of  these  pillars 
which  rise  out  of  the  sea  cover  many  acres.  In 
the  perpendicular  cliff's  are  three  courses  of 
upright  columns,  one  above  the  other,  each  from 
forty  to  sixty  feet  high,  and  separated  by  masses 
of  earth  or  rock.  Of  all  my  days  of  foreign 
travel,  none  was  enjoyed  more  than  the  day  at 
the  Causeway. 

I  secured  a  guide  and  four   boatmen    to  take 


82  EXPLORING  ITS  CAVES. 

me  across  the  bay,  to  explore  the  caves  and  see 
the  beauties  of  the  place.  We  passed  between 
high  hills,  and  reached  the  waiting  boat  upon  the 
shore. 

"  The  boat  is  trimmed  with  sail  and  oar, 
And  all  prepared  to  quit  the  shore; 
Then  off  we  go  with  wind  and  tide, 
Across  the  sunny  waves  to  glide. 
Then  row !  row  !  row  ! 
Merrily  over  the  waves  we  go  !" 

We  saw  various  caves.  The  most  noted  was 
Portcoon  cave,  a  half  mile  from  the  Causeway, 
which  the  legend  says  was  once  inhabited  by  a 
giant  who  would  accept  no  food  from  human 
hands,  and  so  he  was  fed  by  the  seals.  The 
boatmen  rowed  into  Dunkerry  cave,  which  can 
only  be  entered  from  the  sea.  The  entrance 
resembles  a  Gothic  arch,  and  the  roof  is  sixty 
feet  above  high-water  mark.  When  we  entered 
this  "  temple  not  made  with  hands,"  we  saw  the 
glorious  tints  of  the  many-colored  rock  in  the 
roof  above  and  in  the  solid  arching  sides.  As  we 
advanced  the  cave  grew  narrower,  and  the  oars 
were  drawn  into  the  boat.  The  entrance  became 
smaller,  and  as  we  neared  the  end  the  waters 
dashed  heavily  against  the  sides  of  the  mountain. 
The  boat  rose  and  fell  as  the  waters  ebbed  and 
flowed  in  response  to  the  swell  of  the  ocean.  As 
we  cast  our  eyes  towards  the  entrance,  now  our 
place  of  exit,  it  seemed  as  though  the  rising 
sea  would  shut  us  into  the  cavern  away  from  the 


THE  IMPRISONED  SEA.  83 

sight  of  earth,  while  ceaselessly  was  heard  the 
moaning  of  the  imprisoned  sea,  as  it  sloughed 
and  swayed  and  swashed  against  the  end  and 
sides  of  this  great  temple. 

Emerging  once  more  into  the  bright  world,  we 
went  from  point  to  point  possessed  of  fanciful 
names.  I  drank  the  clear  water  from  the  Giant's 
well,  a  cavity  in  basaltic  rock,  and  saw  the  Giant's 
gateway  and  loom,  composed  of  a  series  of  col- 
umns standing  upright,  and  the  Giant's  organ,  a 
place  in  the  side  of  the  mountain.  Then  there 
was  the  pretty  bay,  which  is  the  delight  of  tourists. 
When  the  tour  was  concluded,  I  dismissed  the 
four  boatmen,  who  clamored  vociferously  for 
"tips."  I  made  a  careful  bargain  with  the  hotel 
proprietor  for  their  services,  but  that  made  not 
the  slightest  difference.  I  was  a  tourist  and  an 
American,  and  was  a  legitimate  object  of  plunder. 
As  there  were  four  of  them  and  "only  one  of  me," 
I  feed  them  all.  My  guide  and  I  climbed  the  shep- 
herd's path,  a  dizzy  way  over  the  high  cliff,  to  the 
green  level  lands  above.  He  served  me  faithfully, 
and  when  the  hotel  was  reached  I  feed  him.  Eu- 
ropeans have  a  wonderful  faculty  of  depleting  the 
pockets  of  travellers,  and  tipping  is  one  of  the 
most  -obnoxious  customs.  I  only  tipped  five  per- 
sons after  paying  all  that  was  agreed  upon  in  the 
original  bill,  and  escaped  from  the  clutches  of 
boots,  chambermaid,  and  porter,  and  mounted  a 
jaunting-car  for  Belfast,  eighty  miles  away.    Sixty 


84  SIXTY  MILES  BY  JAUNTING-CAR. 

miles  was  made  by  jaunting-car  through  the  finest 
scenery  of  Ireland. 

On  the  way  to  Bally  castle  I  wandered  from 
the  road  to  visit  the  wonderful  chasm  Carrick-a- 
Rede.  A  rope  bridge  leads  across  the  gulf,  sixty 
feet  long  and  ninety  feet  above  the  water.  A 
heavy  mist  was  falling,  a  strong  wind  blowing,  and 
the  narrow  bridge  with  a  board  upon  it  swayed  to 
and  fro  over  the  deep  abyss.  The  perilous  feat 
of  crossing  it  was  left  to  others.  My  guide  was 
Francis,  son  of  James  and  grandson  of  Alexander 
Jameson.  These  were  common  names  in  the 
New  Hampshire  settlements. 

Along  this  coast  the  scenery  is  wonderful.  The 
limestone  cliffs,  white  and  glistening,  rise  out  of 
the  sea,  and  in  the  distance  seemed  like  villages 
of  white  houses.  The  coast  is  full  of  caves.  I 
passed  through  the  towns  of  Cushendall  and  Glen- 
arm,  through  the  county  of  Antrim,  which  is  one 
of  the  purest  Scotch  settlements.  The  roads,  like 
all  in  Great  Britain,  are  most  excellent.  Rocks 
are  taken  from  the  cliffs  to  a  recess  at  the  side  of 
the  highway,  there  beaten  fine,  and  then  put  upon 
the  road,  making  it  hard  as  stone  and  smooth  as  a 
floor. 

Antrim,  agriculturally,  is  one  of  the  best  coun- 
ties in  Ireland,  There  I  saw  the  nearest  approach, 
in  the  looks  of  dwellings  and  in  the  appearance  of 
farms  and  surroundings,  to  the  homes  of  New 
England  farmers.   The  people  seemed  prosperous, 


IN  ANTRIM.  85 

and  there  was  none  of  the  wretched  poverty  visi- 
ble which  one  sees  in  other  locahties.  For  twenty 
miles  the  highway  skirted  the  coast,  with  the  sea 
upon  one  side  and  towering  cliffs  of  limestone 
upon  the  other,  while  away  up  their  almost  per- 
pendicular sides,  in  the  green  patches,  the  sheep 
and  lambs  were  feeding  among  the  rocks.  The 
scenery  was  magnificent. 

On  the  second  day  we  arrived  at  Larne,  which 
is  a  flourishing  town  of  3,000  people.  At  this 
place  one  takes  the  steamer  for  Stranraer,  Scot- 
land, thirty-nine  and  a  half  miles  away.  From 
Larne  the  journey  was  continued  by  the  narrow 
gauge  railway  to  Ballemena,  and  I  registered  at 
the  Adair  Arms  hotel.  A  man  with  a  good  Scotch 
name,  John  Campbell,  was  proprietor. 

In  the  Scotch  settlement  of  Windham,  N.  H., 
once  lived  a  strange  character,  Francis  Richey, 
"born  in  ye  county  of  Antrim,  and  town  of  Bally- 
manaugh,  in  ye  north  of  Ireland,  who  died  July 
12,  1777,  se  61  yrs."  In  the  ancient  cemetery 
there,  beneath  a  flat  stone,  for  more  than  a  hun- 
dred years  he  has  reposed,  and  where  he  will  rest 
till  the  great  awakening  light  of  the  final  day.  As 
I  passed  through  the  streets  of  Ballemena,  his 
early-home,  I  observed  a  sign  over  a  building  for 
trade  with  the  name  Francis  Richey. 

I  passed  through  the  attractive  town  of  Antrim, 
of  2,000  people.  It  is  situated  near  Lough 
Neagh,  the  largest  lake  in  Ireland.     Passing  the 


S6  ATTRACTIVENESS  OF  BELFAST. 

intervening  twenty-two  miles  we  entered  Belfast, 
the  finest,  liveliest  town  in  Ireland,  which  contains 
some  230,000  people.  Here  a  week  was  spent 
most  pleasantly. 

Linen  Hall,  or  Belfast  library,  founded  in  1788, 
and  owned  by  shareholders,  is  a  good  reference 
library.  The  rules,  the  seats,  tables,  and  other 
facilities  for  consulting  works  are  at  least  twenty- 
five  years  behind  the  times,  or  behind  the  libraries 
in  New  England.  Much  time  can  be  profitably 
spent  there.  The  grounds  about  it  with  their 
trees  and  flowers  are  delightful. 

Many  lovely  rides  one  can  take  about  this  de- 
lightful city.  The  tram-cars  go  in  all  directions ; 
and  by  ascending  a  spiral  staircase  passengers 
mount  to  the  top.  From  this  place  a  fine  view 
of  all  parts  of  the  city  can  be  had.  One  bright, 
sunny  day,  in  company  with  two  gentlemen,  I 
started  for  a  visit  to  the  top  of  Cave  hill,  three 
miles  north  of  the  town.  Taking  our  seats  on 
the  top  of  the  tram-car,  we  rode  past  elegant  res- 
idences and  parks  of  beauty,  as  we  proceeded  up 
the  Antrim  road  to  the  terminus  of  the  route.  We 
then  walked  to  the  base  of  the  mountain,  and  pass- 
ing through  a  wire  fence,  entered  the  sacred  en- 
closure, and  commenced  the  toilsome  ascent.  It 
seems  that  this  land  was  sacred  for  game,  and 
human  beings  must  not  pollute  the  soil  by  tread- 
ing upon  it.  It  is  almost  an  unpardonable  sin 
to  look  inside,  or  breathe  the  air.    I  was  not  famil- 


BEAUTIES  OF  LANDLORDISM.  8/ 

iar  with  these  things,  and  took  my  first  lesson  in 
the  beauties  of  landlordism.  As  we  ascended,  we 
started  hare  and  other  game  from  cover.  But 
steeper  grew  the  mountain,  harder  the  ascent.  It 
was  so  sharp  that  we  took  hold  of  the  long,  dry 
grass,  which  grew  abundantly,  and  pulled  our- 
selves up  the  steep  incline.  At  length,  utterly 
fatigued,  we  threw  ourselves  on  the  slope  for  rest. 
The  day  was  clear,  and  the  Lough  of  Belfast  glis- 
tened in  the  sunshine,  while  the  town  of  Bangor 
and  other  places  were  plainly  visible.  In  another 
direction  was  an  old  round  tower.  At  the  base  of 
the  mountain,  some  distance  away,  was  the  castle 
of  the  lord  proprietor.  Front  of  this  was  a  man, 
who  watched  us  with  interest. 

We  pressed  on,  and  when  within  a  few  rods  of 
a  wall  on  the  summit,  the  goal  of  our  desires,  just 
at  this  supreme  moment,  what  should  appear  be- 
fore our  startled  vision  but  a  wild  looking  man, 
running  upon  the  opposite  side,  shaking  a  long 
staff,  and  gesticulating  violently.  We  halted  till  he 
came  to  us.  His  speech  was  so  incoherent  and 
peculiar  that  we  could  not  understand  him  fully; 
but  he  ordered  us  down  from  the  mountain,  and 
desired  us  to  interview  the  man  of  contemplative 
mood  in  front  of  the  castle.  We  could  have  left 
the  game-keeper  easily,  but  concluded  to  take  a 
look  at  the  castle  and  converse  with  the  steward. 
When  we  reached  the  latter,  I  advanced,  present- 
ed the  steward  with  my  card,  extended  my  hand, 


88  IN  A   LOVELY  HOME. 

and  expressed  my  great  pleasure  and  gratification 
on  making  his  acquaintance.  He  hesitated,  look- 
ed at  me  sharply,  seemed  rather  nonplussed,  and 
for  some  unexplained  cause  he  appeared  cool  in 
his  welcome,  and  delayed  for  a  moment  before 
clasping  my  extended  hand.  He  was  greatly  an- 
noyed that  any  person  should  presume  to  cross 
the  land  of  his  liege  lord ;  and  when  we  left  him 
he  expressed  the  friendly  hope  that  he  might 
never  see  our  sweet  faces  again  ! 

We  visited  the  Botanic  gardens.  Queen's  col- 
lege, and  other  points.  It  had  been  a  long  walk, 
a  long  ride,  and  the  experiences  and  sights  were 
enjoyable.  Belfast  seems  like  an  American  city, 
and  is  very  nice.  The  plans  of  the  houses  and 
their  surroundings  are  neat  and  pretty.  There  is 
a  great  deal  of  enterprise  and  wealth,  and  it  is  the 
finest  city  in  Ireland.  It  might  be  annexed  to 
Boston,  and  one  could  hardly  tell  where  Boston 
left  off  and  Belfast  commenced. 

On  Palm  Sunday  I  attended  St.  Malachy's 
Roman  Catholic  church,  where  multitudes  gath- 
ered. The  singing  was  beautiful,  and  the  sermon 
was  good.  Spent  a  delightful  evening  at  the 
hospitable  home  and  with  the  charming  family 
of  William  E.  Armstrong,  Esq.,  solicitor,  opposite 
Belfast  academy. 

At  Castle  Rock  and  Belfast  I  struck  the  clue  of 
valuable  historical  and  genealogical  information 
which  was  developed  upon  my  arrival  in  Edin- 
burgh. 


DEMOLISHED  CABINS.  89 

My  sojourn  in  the  country  was  drawing  to  a 
close,  and  I  will  give  my  impressions  derived 
from  a  visit  of  a  month  in  the  Emerald  Isle.  The 
amount  of  poverty,  ignorance,  and  wretchedness 
which  meets  one  in  many  parts  is  appalling. 
The  people  have  been  badly  treated  and  ground 
down  by  the  landlords.  The  system  of  landlord- 
ism, as  it  now  exists,  ought  to  be  and  will  be  extir- 
pated, root  and  branch.  The  great  estates  given 
up  to  game  should  be  purchased  at  a  fair  rate, 
taken  possession  of  by  the  government,  and  sold 
to  the  people,  to  whom  they  rightfully  belong,  for 
human  comfort  and  human  habitations. 

In  the  counties  of  Sligo,  Roscommon,  and  Leit- 
rim  the  people  are  poor.  The  good  land  is  turned 
into  grass  farms,  while  cattle  are  pastured  on  the 
low  damp  grounds,  and  sheep  upon  the  dryer 
portions.  The  houses  of  former  tenants  have  been 
tumbled,  wholesale,  the  stones  used  for  makino- 
fences  along  the  highway  or  through  the  fields. 
In  Ireland,  between  1841  and  186 1,  two  hundred 
and  seventy  thousand  cabins,  the  homes  of 
nearly  one  and  a  half  millions  of  people,  were 
destroyed,  and  the  people  were  forced  to  emi- 
grate or  die.  Thousands  of  small  farms  were 
made  into  a  large  one.  There  are  large  districts 
where  for  miles  and  miles  a  traveller  can  see  only 
an  occasional  house  for  a  herdsman  or  of  a  local 
proprietor.  How  the  people  make  a  living  is 
a  mystery,  for  a  great  part  of  the  land  occupied 
5 


90  TIVO   CLASSES. 

by  the  small  farmers  would  not  pay  the  cost  of 
cultivation,  or  improvement,  if  done  with  hired 
labor.  Everything  seems  combined  to  dwarf  the 
aspirations  and  energies  of  the  people,  rather 
than  to  stimulate  them  into  healthy  activity. 

As  formerly  stated,  there  are  two  classes  in 
Ireland, — the  native  Celts,  who  so  largely  come 
to  America,  who  are  Catholics,  and  the  descend- 
ants of  the  Scotch  and  English  settlers.  The 
descendants  of  the  Scotch  in  Ireland  are  the 
same  as  those  who  formed  the  Scotch  settlements 
in  America,  and  are  largely  Presbyterians.  The 
descendants  of  the  Scotch  and  English  reside 
principally  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  and  as  a  class 
are  much  more  intelligent,  more  thrifty,  and 
more  prosperous  than  the  native  Irish,  though 
they  live  on  a  less  productive  soil.  Two  causes 
have  aided  in  making  this  difference.  The  gov- 
ernment has  given  the  residents  in  the  north  more 
privileges,  and  the  influence  of  their  religion  has 
been  to  make  the  people  intelligent,  and  to  lead 
them  to  do  their  own  thinking.  The  native  Irish 
have  been  more  cruelly  oppressed,  and  the  influ- 
ence of  their  religion  has  been  directly  opposite, 
and  led  their  religious  teachers  to  do  the  thinking 
for  the  people.  The  descendants  of  the  English 
are  largely  Episcopalians.  There  is  much  bad  feel- 
ing between  the  people  of  the  different  denomi- 
nations, and  little  of  that  liberality  and  charity  ex- 
ists between  them  which  are  found  in  the  United 


LOVE  FOR  AMERICANS.  9 1 

States.  An  Episcopal  clergyman  said  to  me,  in 
speaking-  of  the  different  denominations, — "  Nat- 
urally the  Episcopalians  and  the  Presbyterians 
would  work  together  politically  rather  than  other- 
wise, but  let  an  Episcopalian  be  a  candidate  for 
any  office,  and  I'll  be  blowed  if  the  Presbyterians 
and  the  Catholics  won't  unite  to  defeat  him  every 
time."  The  Presbyterians  are  stiff,  old-fashioned, 
and  conservative.  A  bitter  controversy  is  going 
on  between  the  progressive  and  conservative  ele- 
ments in  regard  to  the  use  of  instrumental  music 
in  their  churches. 

Among  all  classes  in  the  Emerald  Isle, — the  rich, 
the  poor,  the  good,  the  bad,  Catholic  and  Protes- 
tant,— a  great  amount  of  intoxicants  is  used.  This 
custom,  and  landlordism,  are  the  two  great  curses 
of  Ireland.  In  my  travels  I  have  never  met  a 
finer  class  of  people  than  the  descendants  of  the 
Scotch  and  English  settlers  in  Ireland.  They  are 
intelligent,  honest,  and  conscientious. 

The  native  or  Celtic  Irish  are  not  so  well 
educated,  or  so  intelligent.  They  are  impulsive, 
kind,  warm-hearted,  and  hospitable.  Upon  re- 
ligious matters  they  do  not  have  intelligent 
individual  opinions,  but  the  most  illiterate  and 
the  most  intelligent  are  influenced  and  governed 
largely  by  their  priests. 

America  is  loved,  and  Americans  are  held  in 
high  esteem,  by  all  classes.  An  American  with 
common  politeness  will  be  treated  with  kindness 


92  HOME  RULE. 

in  any  part  of  Ireland.  For  myself  the  kindest 
wishes  for  Ireland  abide  with  me.  I  met  some 
of  the  highest,  many  of  the  lowliest,  and  con- 
versed with  hundreds  of  her  middle  classes,  and 
by  all,  Catholics  and  Protestants,  I  was  treated 
with  great  attention,  courtesy,  and  kindness. 

The  condition  of  the  country  is  certainly  im- 
proving. The  people  are  "more  and  more,"  and 
the  landlords  are  becoming  "smaller  by  degrees 
and  beautifully  less."  Gladstone's  land  act  of 
1 88 1  was  a  savage  blow  to  landlordism.  The  bill 
of  Mr.  Gladstone's  before  parliament,  for  buying 
the  land  of  those  landlords  who  wish  to  sell,  seems 
to  me  too  easy  upon  the  landlords.  I  look  with 
distrust  upon  the  bill  for  Home  Rule  as  it  was 
presented  by  Mr.  Gladstone,  and  doubt  the  fit- 
ness of  the  country  for  it,  though  a  modified  bill 
of  that  sort  might  be  well.  The  two  classes.  Cath- 
olic and  Protestant,  are  so  distinct,  and  so  bitter 
are  their  animosities,  that  it  would  be  singular 
if  they  could  affiliate,  and  work  for  the  common 
good.  But  somehow,  in  some  way,  the  present 
must  be  the  dawning  of  a  better  day  for  the 
Irish  people.  With  a  broad  and  liberal  policy  of 
the  government,  with  the  diffusion  of  educational 
privileges,  and  the  enlightening  influences  of 
religious  liberty,  all  of  which  must  come  in  due 
time,  there  is  a  bright  future  for  Ireland. 

From  Belfast  I  went  to  Larne,  passing  through 
Carrickfergus.     Its  old  castle,  still  garrisoned  by 


FAREWELL    TO  LR ELAND.  93 

troops,  is  covered  with  ivy,  and  the  white  waves  of 
the  ocean  beat  against  it. 

Larne  is  a  town  of  from  3,000  to  4,000  people, 
and  the  shipping  port  for  Stranraer,  Scotland, 
thirty- nine  and  a  half  miles  away.  As  we  steamed 
out  of  the  harbor,  I  glanced  backward  upon  that 
retreating  land,  upon  which  nature  had  poured  her 
riches  and  her  charms  so  lavishly. 

Farewell,  sweet,  beautiful  Ireland!  Farewell! 
your  high  mountains,  your  green  hills,  your  lovely 
valleys  and  swiftly  flowing  rivers !  I  bid  you  all 
adieu !  With  a  heart  full  of  sympathy  for  your  woes, 
fondly  do  I  hope  that  the  present  is  the  dawning 
of  the  day  of  your  emancipation  from  the  social, 
religious,  and  political  evils  which  oppress  you. 
Ardently  do  I  wish  that  your  future,  unlike  your 
past,  may  give  your  loving  sons  and  daughters 
something  beside  "  beauty  and  sorrow"!  Thus  I 
took  leave  of  the  temporary  abode  of  my  ances- 
tors, and  passed  out  of  Ireland. 

Looking  forward:  My  desires  to  be  in  Scotland, 
the  fatherland,  were  too  strong  to  be  longer  re- 
pressed. I  longed  to  gaze  upon  her  historic 
mountains,  to  breathe  her  bracing  air,  and  to  press 
my  feet  upon  her  soil.  As  the  boat  speeded  on 
her  way,  out  of  the  silvery  sea  rose  the  outline 
of  the  Scottish  coast.  As  the  shades  of  evening 
fell,  bolder  and  more  distinct  became  the  hicrh 
headlands.  When  nio-ht  brooded  over  the  silent 
mountains,  I  was  in  the  home  of  my  forefathers. 
Thus  I  passed  into  Scotland. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

SCOTLAND. 

"A  combination  of  sea  and  mountains  made  Scotland  the  home  of  a 
bold,  vigorous,  liberty-loving  people." 

"Two  voices  are  there; — one  is  of  the  sea. 
One  of  the  mountains,  each  a  mighty  voice." 

fT  is  a  great  thing  to  belong  to  a  nation  of  which 
you  are  proud,  to  have  claims  upon  a  nation- 
ality whose  memories  and  traditions  have  been 
glorious.  This  country  has  wonderful  attractions 
to  Scotch- Americans.  It  is  the  home  of  a  ofreat 
and  intellectual  people.  Its  associations,  histori- 
cal and  political,  are  exceedingly  rich.  Martyrs 
for  liberty  and  religion  have  died  there.  Poets 
and  authors  of  world-wide  reputation  have  made 
their  country  famous,  and  have  invested  its  seas, 
its  rivers,  its  lakes  and  mountains,  with  romantic 
interest.  They  have  peopled  all  places  with  chil- 
dren of  their  brain. 

It  is  the  home  of  Wallace,  Bruce,  Knox,  Burns, 
Scott,  and  Black,  and  of  great  and  illustrious  per- 
sonages of  the  past  and  present  in  various  walks  of 
life.  The  histories  of  individuals,  of  clans,  of  the 
Scotch  nation,  speak  from  rocky  mountains,  from 
the  glens  of  Scotland,  and  clothe  all  places  with  a 


TOUCH  OF  THE  MOUNTAIN  SOD.  95 

living,  human  interest.     Her  children  have  been 
mighty 

"  By  the  touch  of  the  mountain  sod." 

So  closely  are  the  blue  mountains  of  Scotland 
allied  with  the  green  fields  of  the  Emerald  Isle, 
that  at  their  nearest  points  only  twenty  miles  of 
sea  divide  them.  On  a  clear  day,  from  the  Irish 
coast  can  be  seen  the  mountains  of  Scotland.  In 
the  dark  days  of  her  history  it  is  not  surprising 
that  many  of  her  people,  fleeing  from  persecutions, 
should  cross  this  narrow  belt  of  sea  and  find  refuge 
from  relentless  persecution.  Thousands  went  to 
better  their  condition.  It  is  computed  that  in 
1 64 1  there  were  20,000  English  and  100,000 
Scotch  in  the  plantation  of  Ulster.  So  the  ances- 
tors of  the  Scotch,  who  formed  settlements  in  New 
Hampshire,  Pennsylvania,  and  several  of  the 
Southern  states,  passed  into  the  Emerald  Isle. 
Then  once  more  this  hardy,  unconquered,  and 
unconquerable  race  fled  from  a  country  not  worthy 
of  them,  on  account  of  despotic  landlords  and  an 
oppressive  and  bigoted  government.  They  col- 
lected their  household  gods,  and  the  little  proper- 
ty they  had,  which  was  not  much, — for  landlords, 
the  Established  Church,  and  the  government  had 
nibbed  them  of  nearly  all  their  income,  —  took 
the  voyage  of  from  eight  to  twelve  weeks  across 
the  Atlantic,  and  founded  new  homes  in  the  wil- 
derness of  America,  and  helped  to  build  and  de- 
velop the  wonderful  government  of  the  United 
States. 


96  RUINS  OF  CASTLE  KENNEDY. 

The  portion  of  sea  which  I  crossed  from  Larne  to 
Stranraer  occupied  two  and  three  fourths  hours  in 
the  passage.  We  passed  five  domains  before  we 
entered  Stranraer,  among  them  that  of  Sir  Wilham 
Wallace,  who  claims  kinship  to  the  renowned 
chieftain  and  liberator.  I  was  now  in  a  land  whose 
every  rod  of  territory  was  bristling  with  history. 
In  the  proud  heritage  of  her  past  I  could  claim  a 
part.  I  had  loved  Scotland  and  the  lives  of  many 
of  her  people.  When  one  who  has  so  loved  her  and 
her  history  treads  for  the  first  time  her  soil,  very 
vividly  will  important  historic  events  pass  before 
him.  They  come  thronging  back  upon  his  soul 
like  the  inrushing  waters  of  a  mighty  flood. 

Stranraer  is  an  untidy,  disagreeable  town,  with 
narrow  streets  and  6,000  people,  and  stands  at  the 
head  of  Loch  Ryan.  I  registered  at  Meikle's 
hotel.  There  were  wretched,  thatch-roofed  cot- 
tages, occupied  by  people  poorly  fed  and  meanly 
clad.  Poverty  was  everywhere.  One  could  not 
but  think  that  Scotland  treated  her  children  shab- 
bily. This  was  only  one  side  of  the  picture :  the 
other  will  be  exhibited. 

Four  miles  from  Stranraer  are  the  ruins  of  Cas- 
tle Kennedy,  formerly  the  seat  of  famous  earls. 
The  ruins  are  upon  the  estate  of  the  Earl  of 
Stair,  which  is  one  of  the  finest  in  Scotland.  On 
the  morning  succeeding  my  arrival  the  celebrated 
place  was  visited,  '^fhe  grounds  are  superb,  laid 
out  with  groves,  grand  avenues,  mounds,  and  ter- 


A   PACK  OF  HOUNDS.  97 

races,  rich  with  grass.  They  are  not  driven  over, 
and  the  well  kept  grounds  contain  delightful  prom- 
enades, ornamented  with  rare  and  beautiful  trees. 
Among  them  is  one  of  great  beauty,  popularly 
known  as  the  "  Devil's  puzzle,"  very  green,  with 
long,  round,  prickly  limbs,  while  the  body  of  the 
tree  is  covered  with  barbed  flakes.  A  lake  with  its 
sinuous  windinofs  adds  to  the  attractiveness  of  the 
place.  Castle  Kennedy,  majestic  in  its  ruins, 
stands  on  a  narrow  neck  of  land  between  two 
lakes.  An  accidental  fire  in  1 7 1 5  reduced  it  to  its 
present  condition.  A  large  portion  is  covered 
with  ivy.  It  was  a  charming  spring  morning,  and 
the  air  w-as  melodious  with  the  songs  of  birds,  as 
hundreds  of  them  live  in  the  ruins,  in  the  broken 
chimneys,  in  the  covering  ivy,  and  in  the  crevices 
of  the  shattered  walls.  The  present  castle  of  the 
Earl  of  Stair,  one  fourth  of  a  mile  distant,  is  of 
elegant  proportions  and  stateliness.  Like  most 
castles  in  Great  Britain,  it  is  occupied  only  a  por- 
tion of  the  year  by  the  wealthy  proprietor.  Land- 
lords and  nobles  spend  the  rest  of  the  time  "in 
town,"  which  means  London,  where  many  of  them 
have  elegant  mansions,  or  in  Paris  and  on  the 
continent. 

While  passing  over  this  estate,  a  large  pack 
of  perhaps  thirty  hounds  were  unloosed  by  the 
hound-keeper.  They  were  sleek,  finely  formed, 
and  well  kept.  They  flew  across  the  park  with 
great  rapidity,  with  loud  hayings,  but  were  obedi- 
5* 


98  ENGLISH  HUNTING  ESTABLISHMENTS. 

ent  to  the  call  of  the  keeper.  It  was  a  beautiful 
sight. 

In  Enoland  alone  there  are  said  to  be  five  hun- 
dred  packs  of  hounds  of  eighty  each,  or  forty 
thousand  kept  for  hunting  purposes.  There  are 
one  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  hunting  horses, 
lone-limbed,  and  fleet  as  the  wind.  Hounds  and 
horses  and  hunting  establishments  are  supported 
at  an  annual  expense  of  nearly  $50,000,000. 
When  hunting  they  cross  fields,  damaging  crops, 
and  leap  ditches  and  high  fences  ;  and  all  this  for 
the  sake  of  making  Englishmen  "manly"  by  chas- 
ing to  its  death  a  hare,  a  fox,  or  a  deer.  The  tenant 
had,  till  recently,  no  rights  which  "gentlemen" 
were  bound  to  respect. 

This  is  the  other  side  of  the  picture.  It  matters 
not  to  the  governing  class  or  nobility  that  the 
people  suffer;  that  they  work  for  sixteen  or  twen- 
ty cents  per  day,  board  and  clothe  themselves  and 
their  families,  and  furnish  their  homes  for  wife 
and  children.  It  matters  not  that  the  masses  are 
clothed  in  tattered  garments,  shoeless,  with  none 
of  the  comforts  of  life,  so  long  as  they  fare  sump- 
tuously every  clay  on  estates  stolen  from  the  peo- 
ple and  given  to  their  ancestors  centuries  ago. 

But  is  it  any  wonder  that  the  people  do  not 
like  it,  that  the  mutterings  of  a  coming  storm  are 
heard,  that  there  is  a  ferment  among  the  masses 
in  Ireland  and  the  crofters  of  Scotland?  How  long 
would  the  American  people  tolerate  such  insufl"er- 


BIRTHPLACE   OF  BURNS. 


99 


able  nuisances  as  exist  in  Great  Britain  !  They 
had  only  the  slightest  taste  of  the  British  system  in 
1776,  when  they  rose  in  their  might,  repudiated 
the  "divine  right"  of  kings  and  nobles,  repudiated 
caste,  landlordism,  and  the  whole  blessed  arrange- 
ment, gathered  them  together,  and  sent  them 
across  the  Adantic  to  King  George  III  and  his 
parliament  with  the  compliments  of  the  American 
people,  and  the  message  that  Americans  did  not 
want  these  things  and  would  not  have  them!  And 
they  made  good  their  words! 

It  is  refreshing  to  turn  from  these  things,  and 
visit  Ayr,  a  spot  made  famous  by  one  who  be- 
longed to  a  higher  and  nobler  aristocracy — that  of 
intellect.  It  is  situated  on  the  river  Ayr,  with  a 
population  of  18,000.  The  river  dividing  it  is 
crossed  by  two  bridges.  In  the  city  is  the  Wallace 
tower,  with  a  niche  containing  his  statue. 

But  what  gives  this  place  its  interest  is  the  fact 
that  it  is  the  birth- 
place of  Robert  Burns. 
Around  it  his  life  and 
writing's  have  thrown 
a  fascination  which  will 
never  die.  Thousands 
of  pilgrims  from  all 
> portions  of  the  globe 
visit  it  year  by  year.  From  the  low  thatch-roofed 
cottage  in  which  he  was  born  has  gone  forth  an 
influence  which  deepens  and  broadens  with  the 


jii^fiiffiPi 


lOO  GENIUS  OF  BURNS. 

rolling  years.  His  writings  have  thrilled  and  stir- 
red the  hearts  of  Scotchmen  beyond  those  of  any 
other  man.  He  is  the  most  deeply  loved  of  any, 
and  is  recognized  as  the  greatest  genius  in  Scot- 
tish literature.  When  I  visited  these  historic  spots 
I  was  filled  with  delight,  and  more  profoundly 
stirred  than  at  any  other  place  in  my  travels. 

A  wonderful  fascination  clino-s  to  the  name  of 
Burns.  Without  a  liberal  education  or  culture, 
without  friends  of  influence,  with  nothing  to  de- 
velop him  and  everything  to  repress  him,  this 
plowman — and  a  plowman  in  Scotland  is  not  like 
a  plowman  in  New  England — by  the  transcend- 
ent brilliancy  of  his  genius,  forced  himself  into  the 
front  ranks  of  the  noted  men  of  the  world.  Un- 
appreciated in  his  day  and  generation,  scorned  by 
many,  forsaken  by  the  rich  and  powerful,  untrue 
himself  to  the  leadings  of  his  better  nature,  he  was 
left  alone  to  tread  the  way  of  poverty  and  sorrow. 
Then  the  sensitive,  proud  spirit  of  this  kingly  son 
of  the  soil  was  soured  and  broken,  and  he  died 
July  2  1,  1796,  at  the  early  age  of  37  years.  While 
the  names  of  many  noted  men  of  his  generation 
have  passed  into  oblivion,  his  fame  increases.  No 
honors  are  too  great  to  perpetuate  his  name,  and 
monuments  are  erected  to  his  memory. 

An  old  Scotch  lady  once  said, — 

"  Poor  Robbie  Burns !  when  alive  he  cried  for  bread, 
And  they  gave  him  a  stone — when  he  was  dead !  " 

This    shows   man's  inhumanity  to   man.     In    his 


1  ,>    1       >  » 


7V4J/  aSHANTER  INN.  lOI 

last  years  the  sympathy  and  aid  of  his  country- 
men were  not  g-iven  him.  Then  they  would  have 
cheered  and  blest  him !  When  death  closed  the 
scene,  when  he  had  passed  beyond  the  ken  of 
mortal  vision,  beyond  the  reach  of  human  aid, 
where  human  sympathy  could  not  cheer  and  hu- 
man criticism  could  not  wound,  then  his  genius 
was  recognized,  then  the  love  and  honors  of  his 
countrymen  were  poured  out  lavishly  to  celebrate 
his  fame.     Surely 

"  They  gave  him  a  stone — when  he  was  dead  !  " 

On  High  street,  near  the  Wallace  tower,  is  a 
house  with  a  brass  plate  above  the  door,  wnth  the 
inscription,  "The  house  in  which  Tam  O'Shanter 
an'  Souter  Johnny  held  their  meetings."  It  is 
the  little  two-story  house  know^n  as  the  "Tam 
O'Shanter  Inn."  The  chairs  in  which  the  two 
friends  sat  are  there.  On  the  one  which  Tam 
is  said  to  have  occupied  is  an  inscription  from  the 
poem  "Tam  O'Shanter"  commencing, — 

"  No  man  can  tether  time  or  tide ; 
The  hour  approaches,  Tam  maun  ride, 
Weel  mounted  on  liis  gray  mare,  Meg ; 
A  better  never  lifted  leg." 

There  also  is  Souter  Johnny's  chair,  with  the 
inscription  on  a  brass  plate  : 

"  Fast  by  an  ingle  bleezing  finely, 
Wi'  reaming  swats  that  drank  divinely, 
And  at  his  elbow,  Souter  Johnny, 
His  ancient,  trusty,  drouthy  crony." 


r  '  o    < 
■     <■    it 


102 


ALLOIVAY  KIRK. 


I  next  visited  Burns's  cottage,  two  miles  from 
Ayr.  There  is  the  lowly  thatch-roofed  tenement 
where  he  was  born,  and  which  is  guarded  with 
jealous  care.  Passing  through  the  turnstile,  pay- 
ing two-pence  admission,  I  entered  the  room  in 
which  the  poet  was  born.  There  was  the  old- 
fashioned  bedstead  in  the  wall,  the  clay  floor, 
the  dresser  with  the  pewter  dishes,  the  white  deal 
table,  the  tall  eight-day  clock,  and  the  old  rickety 
spinning-wheel  that  belonged  to  his  sweet  "  High- 
land Mary."  The  room  is  in  substantially  the  same 
condition  it  was  a  century  ago.  In  a  room  back 
of  this  are  portraits  of  Burns,  and  some  of  his 
poems  in  manuscript.  This  also  serves  as  a  res- 
taurant, where  refreshments  are  sold,  with  relics 

of  the  place.  I  left  the  cottage 
and  visited  Alloway  kirk,  which 
owes  its  celebrity  to  the  imagery 
of  Burns's  poems,  and  is  the  scene 
of  the  fiends'  revelry  in  "Tarn 
riili  O'Shanter."  It  is  a  little  church, 
and  in  ruins,  with  the  roof  entire- 

The 


AllowAVVkiri^  ^   ]y   fallen   in   and   removed 


\ 


f£iS^f'>^'^^^=  St 


\'^t 


Stone  walls  still  stand:  the  baptismal  font,  partly 
inside  the  walls  and  partly  upon  the  outside, 
can  still  be  seen.  The  bell  hangs  in  the  old  bel- 
fry, but  it  no  longer  calls  people  to  the  house 
of  prayer.  A  sign  hangs  upon  the  front  of  the 
kirk,  which  requests  persons  not  to  throw  stones 
at  the  bell,  or  to  deface  the  building.    Immediate- 


AULD  BRIG  O'  DOON.  103 

ly  in  front  of  the  kirk  is  buried  the  father  of  Burns. 
Above  him  a  new  stone  has  been  raised,  as  the 
former  one  had  been  entirely  chipped  away  by  rehc- 
hunters.  Near  by  are  the  "banks  and  braes  of 
bonny  Doon."  The  Doon  is  a  swiftly  flowing, 
pleasing  river.  A  few  hundred  yards  distant  is 
the  "auld  brig  o'  Doon,"  an  arched  bridge  of  stone 
of  ancient  date,  but  famous  in  song.  It  was  over 
this  bridge  that  Tarn  O'Shanter  was  chased  by 
the  witches, — chased  so  hard,  followed  so  close, 
that  he  was  only  saved  from  the  grasp  of  the  rev- 
elling fiends  by  the  fleetness  of  his  horse  Maggie, 
which  passed  to  the  keystone  of  the  bridge,  where 
Cutty  Sark 

"  Flew  at  Tarn  \vi'  furious  ettle, 
But  little  wist  she  Maggie's  mettle  : 
Ae  spring  brought  off  her  master  hale, 
But  left  behind  her  own  gray  tail." 

Overlooking  this  place  is  Burns's  monument.    The 
building,  which  blends  the  Roman  and  the  Gre- 
cian architectural  styles,  is  'pifJ^^^p^^H!?^^ 
sixty   feet   in   height,    and  ^K'^^K^^^^' 
the  foundation   stone  was  ^^^^^^^^^^^c'^^ 
laid  January  25,  1820.     It  is  finely  situated  on  an 
acre  of  land,  and  is  a  fitting  memorial  of  a  peo- 
ple's affection  for  their  greatest  poet.     In  a  circu- 
lar apartment  are  different  editions  of  his  works, 
a  snuff-box  made  from  the  wood  of  Alloway  kirk, 
the  Bible  given  by  Burns  to  Highland  Mary,  and 
a  copy  of  a   portrait   of  Burns  by  Nasmith,   the 


I04  VISIT  TO    THE  NIECE  OF  BURNS. 

artist.  Almost  beneath  the  shadow  of  the  monu- 
ment, in  a  grotto,  are  statues  of  Tam  O'Shanter 
and  Souter  Johnny,  which  portray  with  great  fidel- 
ity the  characters  as  described.  I  visited  other 
places  made  celebrated  in  connection  with  the 
poet,  and  like  all  tourists  purchased  many  relics, 
and  brought  them  to  America. 

In  a  comfortable  thatch-roofed  cottage  in  Ayr 
lived  Miss  Beggs,  a  niece  of  Robert  Burns.  I 
called  at  the  house,  and  sent  in  my  card.  In  a 
few  minutes  I  was  shown  up-stairs  into  the  room 
where  she  was,  and  was  received  with  great  cor- 
diality. I  said  to  her  that  it  gave  me  the  greatest 
pleasure  to  meet  a  niece  of  Robert  Burns.  She 
was  a  bright,  sharp,  witty  lady  of  seventy-eight 
years,  and  spoke  with  evident  pleasure  of  the  fact 
that  many  Americans  called  to  see  her.  "Scotch- 
men," she  remarked,  when  speaking  of  her  uncle, 
"would  commence  by  apologizing  for  his  faults: 
Americans  said  nothing  about  them."  She  spoke 
of  a  lovely  American  lady,  who  told  her  that  when 
a  child  she  had  been  reproved  by  her  parents  for 
reading  and  committing  to  memory  Tam  O'Shan- 
ter and  other  poems.  The  fair  American  said  it 
mig-ht  be  foolish — she  didn't  know  but  it  was;  but 
this  she  did  know,  that  when  she  died  and  went 
to  heaven  she  wanted  to  get  just  as  near  Robert 
Burns  as  she  possibly  could. 

The  night  was  spent  at  Ayr.    The  next  morning, 
which  was  cool  and  frosty,  the  bells  were  rung, 


EUROPEAN  TOILERS. 


105 


and  at  5  o'clock  the  operatives  in  the  different 
manufactories  started  for  their  places  of  work. 
Many  of  the   women  and  girls  were  barefooted. 

Some  had  coverings  for 
their  heads,  and  some  did 
not.  Many  walked  two 
miles  to  the  factories,  with- 
out breakfast,  where  they 
worked  an  hour  before  coming  out 
for  the  morning  meal.  They  were 
not  so  well  dressed  as  the  opera- 
tives in  American  mills,  and  had 
a  different  air  about  them.  The 
workers  in  any  vocation  in  Great 
Britain  or  in  Europe  are  not  like  the  workers  in 
the  United  States.  The  tillers  of  the  soil  there 
are  greatly  unlike  the  tillers  of  the  soil  in  the 
United  States.  A  plowman  is  not  like  the  self- 
respecting  farmer  of  America.  I  could  not  but 
note  the  painful  difference  between  the  tillers  of 
the  soil  and  the  intelligent  farmers  of  New  Eng- 
land, with  their  comfortable,  smiling  homes,  which 
they  usually  own,  and  the  intelligent  wives  and 
lovely  daughters  who  brighten  the  family  circle. 
The  same  difference  exists  in  other  callings.  One 
of  the  world's  workers  there  is  a  nobody. 
■  Going  east  fourteen  miles  to  Auchenleck,  I 
scanned  the  public  record  for  200  years,  and  found 
many  familiar  names,  particularly  the  name  of 
Cochran.     Nor  is  this  strange,  as  this  town  was 


I06  OLD  HOME  OF  THE  COCHRANS. 

in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  oldest  settlement 
of  this  well  known  family. 

The  family  of  Cochran,  or  Cochrane,  was  never 
so  large  as  to  be  a  sept  or  clan,  like  many  Scottish 
families.  It  is  an  ancient  surname,  and  is  derived 
from  the  Barony  of  Cochrane,  in  the  county  of 
Renfrew,  very  near  Glasgow,  and  is  the  family 
name  of  the  earls  of  Dundonald.  About  the  ear- 
liest known  mention  of  the  name  w^as  that  of  Wal- 
denus  de  Coveran,  or  Cochran,  who  was  witness 
to  a  charter  of  lands  given  to  Walter  Cumming, 
Earl  of  Monteith,  in  Skipness  and  Cantyre,  in  the 
year  A.  D.  1262.  In  1296  William  de  Cochran 
was  one  of  the  Scotch  barons  who  swore  fealty 
to  Edward  I  of  England.  Gosiline  de  Cochran 
lived  in  the  reign  of  David  II,  and  was  father  of 
William  Cochran,  from  whom  was  descended  the 
William  Cochran  who  in  1576  obtained  of  Queen 
Mary  the  charter  of  confirmation  of  the  lands  of 
Cochran,  erected  the  family  seat,  and  adorned  it 
with  plantations.  He  was  grandfather  of  Sir  John 
Cochrane,  colonel  in  the  army  of  Charles  I.  He 
was  succeeded  by  his  brother,  William  Cochran  of 
Cowdon,  who  was  made  Lord  Cochrane  of  Ochil- 
tree in  December,  1647,  ^^^^  Earl  of  Dundonald 
in  May,  1669.  Members  of  the  family  have  till  a 
late  date  been  prominent  in  politics  and  in  the 
military  service  of  Great  Britain.  It  is  fair  to 
assume  that  the  Cochrans  in  the  American  set- 
tlements,  as    they  are   of  Scotch   origin,  are  de- 


IN  GLASGOW.  107 

scended  from  some  of  the  numerous  and  widely 
separated  branches  of  this  family. 

The  road  from  Auchenleck  to  Glasgow  is 
through  a  fine  country  filled  with  coal  and  iron 
works,  whose  huge  chimneys  belch  forth,  day 
after  day  and  month  after  month,  great  columns 
of  smoke,  which  blackens  the  atmosphere.  Quan- 
tities of  coal  are  brought  to  the  surface,  and  vast 
piles  of  waste  matter  from  iron  lie  upon  the 
ground,  sometimes  thirty  feet  high,  covering  an 
acre  of  ground.  Darker  and  smokier  grew  the 
atmosphere  as  we  approached  Glasgow,  till,  at 
Paisley,  at  times  it  was  impossible  to  see  the  sun. 
The  houses  are  begrimed  with  smoke,  like  those 
in  Pittsburgh,  Penn.  We  landed  at  St.  Enoch's 
station  in  Glasgow  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  I 
registered  at  the  St.  Enoch's  hotel.  One  fasci- 
nating  feature  about  travelling  in  Great  Britain 
is  that  the  ~  railway  companies  own  and  manage 
excellent  hotels  at  all  large  towns  in  close  connec- 
tion with  the  stations,  and  a  person  can  alight 
from  the  train  and  enter  an  elegant  hotel  without 
exposure  to  the  weather.  The  St.  Enoch's  hotel 
is  a  large  and  fine  establishment,  and  well  man- 
aged. The  greatly  annoying  custom  of  tipping 
attendants,  which  is  so  exasperating  to  travellers, 
is  prohibited,  and  a  servant  known  to  receive  a 
fee  will  be  discharged.  It  was  positively  refresh- 
ing, an  unbounded  relief,  to  be  free  for  a  short 
time  from  the  importunities  of  money-seeking  and 
money-getting  attendants. 


I08  MANAGEMENT  OF  RAILWAYS. 

The  stations  in  Glasgow  are  large,  durable, 
solid,  and  costly  structures,  and,  like  everything 
built  in  Great  Britian,  they  are  erected  to  stand 
for  all  time.  There  is  no  shoddy  about  buildings 
in  Great  Britain.  They  are  well  constructed  for 
the  discharge  of  business,  but  there  are  no  luxu- 
ries, barely  comforts,  for  passengers.  The  waiting- 
rooms  are  inferior  to  those  in  America.  There 
are  many  things  in  the  management  of  railways 
which  America  can  afford  to  copy.  Everywhere 
the  roads  go  either  above  or  beneath  the  high- 
ways. Any  one  walking  upon  the  track  is  liable 
to  arrest  and  fine.  At  stations  persons  are  not 
permitted  to  cross  the  tracks,  but  must  follow  the 
walk  above  or  below.  While  these  regulations 
are  sometimes  quite  annoying,  still  they  are 
right :  life  and  limb  are  much  better  cared  for 
than  with  us.  The  lanterns  which  light  the  car- 
riages are  let  down  from  the  top,  and  fitted  into 
the  roof.  That  is  the  custom  in  Ireland,  and  I 
think  in  all  Great  Britain.  Ticket  offices  are 
called  booking  offices. 

Glasgow  is  one  of  the  great  cities  of  the  world. 
It  is  a  place  of  great  wealth,  of  business  push,  of 
beautiful  parks,  of  many  statues  of  illustrious  peo- 
ple, of  massive  stone  buildings  ;  is  full  of  historic 
centres;  has  one  of  the  most  famous  cathedrals  in 
Great  Britain,  a  noted  Necropolis,  and  a  University 
of  high  reputation.  The  river  Clyde  divides  the 
city,  and  is  spanned  by  numerous  bridges  of  mar- 


THE   GREAT  CATHEDRAL. 


109 


vellous  Strength  and  costliness,  and  as  solid  as 
the  firm  mountains.  The  railway  bridges  are 
equally  substantial.  One  of  the  most  wonderful 
achievements  of  modern  times  has  been  the  im- 
provements of  the  Clyde.  Citizens  can  remem- 
ber when  boys  could  wade  across  it,  in  what  is 
now  the  heart  of  the  city.  Dredging  machines 
have  been  at  work  for  many  years  ;  the  channel 
has  been  deepened  and  widened,  and  there  is  now 
an  artificial  harbor  of  twelve  miles  in  approach, 
where  the  largest  ships  can  come  up  to  the  piers. 
The  river  is  walled  in  for  miles.  More  than 
twenty-eight  million  dollars  have  been  expended 
in  these  improvements,  and  they  are  an  ever- 
lasting monument  to  the  persistence  of  the  Scotch 
character,  and  to  the  enterprise,  push,  and  far- 
seeing  sagacity  of  the  citizens  of  Glasgow. 

George's  square,  in  the  centre  of  the  city,  is 
full  of  fountains  and  statues,  walks  and  beds  of 
flowers,   with     seats 


where  the  weary  may 
rest.  The  statues 
and  stone  buildings 
soon  become  black- 
ened by  the  smoky 
atmosphere.  The  ca- 
thedral is  the  most 
interesting  thing  in 
Glasgow,  and  was  founded  in  1136.  The  build- 
ing is  319  feet  in  length,  63  feet  in  breadth,  and 


no  RELIGION  AND  PATRIOTISM. 

90  feet  high.  The  central  tower  is  225  feet  high. 
Its  display  of  stained  glass  in  its  windows  sur- 
passes any  other  building  in  Great  Britain.  The 
external  appearance  is  massive  and  substantial 
rather  than  beautiful.  Alonof  the  sides  and  cut  in 
stone  are  the  heads  of  ghouls,  devils,  and  all  man- 
ner of  hobgoblins.  It  is  said  that  they  were 
carved  in  the  days  of  superstition,  to  drive  away 
the  devil  and  evil  spirits.  I  cannot  vouch  for  this, 
but  they  certainly  looked  frightful  enough  to  an- 
swer that  purpose.  I  frequently  attended  services 
there.  The  nave,  once  used  as  a  church,  is  Gothic 
in  style,  with  a  high  pitched  roof,  and  is  155  feet 
long,  and  30  feet  between  the  aisles.  In  this 
cathedral,  as  in  most  if  not  all  Episcopal  churches 
in  Great  Britain,  and  in  many  cathedrals  on  the 
continent,  religion  and  patriotism,  or  love  of  coun- 
try, go  hand  in  hand.  In  the  sides  of  the  nave 
are  slabs  in  memory  of  many  a  brave  warrior 
"who  died  in  the  service  of  his  queen  and  coun- 
try." Loyalty  to  the  queen  and  royal  family  is 
the  same  as  loyalty  to  the  government,  as  the 
queen  stands  at  the  head.  Those  memorial  tab- 
lets told  the  story  of  patriotism  and  self-sacrifice, 
and,  generally,  for  what  ? 

*'  They  told  of  trophies  taken, 
Of  deeds  of  valor  done." 

The  stained  glass  windows  are  beautiful.  Many 
are  memorial  windows  of  some  distinguished  per- 
son or  family,  and  adorned  with  arms  or  armorial 


THE   CRYPT.  Ill 

trappings.  The  architecture  of  the  choir,  where 
services  are  holclen,  is  grand  indeed.  It  is  97 
feet  in  length.  There  are  the  tall  pillars,  the 
hieh  ceilinor,  the  stained  windows,  the  deep- 
toned  organ ;  and  the  sweet  voices  of  the  singers, 
when  services  are  held,  make  it  a  place  of  great 
attraction.  There  are  147  pillars  and  159  windows 
in  the  cathedral.  The  crypt,  or  burial-place,  un- 
derlies the  choir,  and  is  the  basement  of  the  cathe- 
dral. It  surpasses  all  other  structures  of  its  kind 
in  Great  Britain.  It  is  108  feet  long,  72  feet  wide, 
and  is  supported  by  65  pillars  each  18  feet  in 
height,  and  many  of  them  18  feet  in  circumfer- 
ence. The  piers  and  groining  are  very  intricate 
and  beautiful  in  design  and  execution.  The  walls 
are  lined  with  memorial  tablets  of  some  wise  peo- 
ple, and  of  many  very  foolish  ones. 

The  denomination  worshipping  there  is  the 
Presbyterian,  the  Established  Church  of  Scotland. 
Their  forms  of  service  were  much  like  those  of  the 
Episcopal  church,  but  more  simple.  The  preacher 
was  dressed  in  dark  robes,  and  stationed  in  a 
small,  high  pulpit.  This  minister  read  hymns 
beautifully,  for  his  soul  was  full  of  poetry,  and  re- 
sponded to  the  sentiments  he  uttered.  He  gave 
the  rising  inflection  at  the  enci  of  a  sentence — a 
common  practice  among  Britons,  and  when  well 
done  is  quite  pleasing.  At  this  church  I  saw  the 
first  Scotch  audience,  and  was  interested  in  look- 
ing over  it,  scanning  their  faces.     They  possessed 


112  A   SCOTCH  AUDIENCE. 

Strong,  thoughtful,  intelligent  countenances,  but 
they  seemed  cold  and  stoical,  lacking  that  warmth, 
keenness,  vivacity,  and  variety  of  expression  seen 
in  a  distinctively  American  assembly. 

In  all  of  the  churches  I  attended  in  Great  Brit- 
ain, the  Queen,  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  all  mem- 
bers of  the  royal  family  were  prayed  for  with  great 
force  and  unction, — and  they  need  it !  Then  the 
parliament  is  remembered,  and  the  army  and  the 
navy;  and  God  is  asked  to  grant  success  to  the 
British  arms.  It  seemed  to  me  that  few  petitions 
went  up  to  heaven  for  that  little  portion  of  the 
world  outside  of  Great  Britain,  nor  many  suppli- 
cations for  the  temporal  or  spiritual  welfare  of  the 
poor  fellows  in  Egypt  or  the  Soudan,  whom  Brit- 
ish soldiers  were  consigning  to  hospitable  graves, 
and  whose  souls  they  were  sending  unbidden  into 
the  presence  of  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of 
lords.  The  service  in  that  respect  seemed  to  me 
selfish,  narrow,  and  unchristian,  showing  but  little 
of  the  spirit  of  the  Master. 

An  ancient  cemetery  surrounds  the  cathedral, 
and  probably  one  half  is  literally  paved  with  grave- 
stones. The  other  portion  is  crowded  with  tombs 
hundreds  of  years  old,  monuments  and  memorials 
of  by-gone  generations,  and  one  tomb  to  a  num- 
ber of  the  covenanters  who  died  martyrs  to  their 
faith. 

The  necropolis,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Molin- 
dinar  ravine,  is  an  eminence  225  feet  in  height. 


THE  BRIDGE   OF  SIGHS.  I  1 3 

It  forms  a  noble  backoround  to  the  cathedral,  and 
was  once  called  the  Fir  park.  It  commands  an 
excellent  view  of  the  city  and  the  surrounding 
country,  and  it  is  celebrated  for  its  beauty.  The 
day  was  one  of  rare  brightness  when  I  visited  it. 
Passing  through  the  "Bridge  of  Sighs,"  I  entered 
this  resting-place  of  the  dead.  It  was  commenced 
in  1828,  and  now  the  entire  surface  of  the  rocky 
eminence  is  laid  out  with  beautiful  walks,  beds  of 
flowers,  and  terraced  burying-lots.  The  entire  hill 
is  bristling  with  rare  and  costly  monuments  of 
various  designs  and  beauty,  and  engraved  upon 
them  were  many  familiar  family  names. 

Having  a  letter  to  Mr.  Michael  Simons,  I  was 
received  with  much  kindness.  He  is  one  of  the 
strongest  and  most  successful  merchants  of  the 
city,  and  a  member  of  the  city  council.  He  is  a 
gentleman  of  marked  ability,  fluent  of  speech,  and 
of  great  ease  of  manner.  He  conducted  me  into 
some  of  the  most  noted  parts  of  the  city ;  and  at 
his  home,  at  206  Bath  street,  he  showed  me  some 
orders  of  decorations  which  King  Alphonso  of 
Spain  had  conferred  upon  him  for  opening  and 
developing  an  extensive  business  in  all  kinds  of 
fruits  with  Spain. 

On  the  north  bank  of  the  river  Kelvin,  on  Gil- 
more  hill,  is  the  University  of  Glasgow,  Kelvin 
grove,  or  West  End  park,  finely  laid  out  and  cov- 
ering forty-five  acres  of  ground,  is  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity.  Here  is  the  fountain  erected  to 
6 


114  PUBLIC  LIBRARIES. 

commemorate  the  introduction  of  water  into  the 
city  from  Loch  Katrine,  forty-five  miles  away,  sur- 
mounted by  a  bronze  figure  called  the  "Lady  of 
the  Lake." 

The  Botanic  Gardens  are  an  adornment  to  the 
place.  There  are  two  free  public  libraries,  but 
they  are  not  so  extensive  nor  so  well  conducted  as 
the  libraries  in  our  largest  cities.  Considerable 
time  was  spent  in  Mitchell's  library,  which  has 
many  valuable  and  costly  books  of  reference  not 
generally  found  in  libraries  in  the  United  States. 

The  great  markets  are  interesting  to  visit,  where 
almost  any  article  of  either  hemisphere  can  be 
bought.  Many  of  the  stalls  are  carried  on  by 
girls  or  women.  Some  of  the  best  second-hand 
bookstores  in  the  city  are  there.  In  all  parts  of 
Great  Britain  there  are  such  stores,  where  val- 
uable works  can  be  bought  at  reasonable  rates, 
which  cannot  be  said  of  first  class  stores,  where 
my  experience  has  taught  me  that  the  prices  are 
exorbitant  for  either  first  or  second  editions,  and 
are  much  higher  than  for  books  in  this  country. 

On  the  high  grounds  near  the  university  are 
cannon  "keeping  watch  and  ward,"  which  were 
captured  from  the  Russians  at  Sebastopol.  At 
another  point  is  the  Caledonian  canal,  running 
over  a  deep  ravine  and  above  the  Kelvin  river. 
It  is  an  interesting  point,  and  a  triumph  of  engi- 
neering skill. 

I  made  the  acquaintance  of  Rev.  Donald  Mor- 


IVf/A  T'S  IN  A   NAME  ?  I  1 5 

rison,  LL.  D.,  rector  of  Glasgow  academy.  The 
interview  was  an  exceedingly  pleasant  one.  He 
was  a  tall,  dark,  fine-looking  man,  who  wore  his 
robes  and  the  Oxford  cap.  His  family  is  from  the 
north  of  Scotland;  and  much  was  my  surprise  to 
find  that  he  was  the  brother  of  Rev.  James  Mor- 
rison, of  Urquhart,  Elgin,  Scotland,  with  whom  I 
had  had  an  interesting  correspondence  several 
years  before.  Another  brother  is  A.  Morrison, 
LL.  D.^  principal  of  Scotch  college,  Melbourne, 
Australia.  It  was  interesting  to  learn,  on  more 
than  one  occasion,  that  the  printed  history  of  our 
common  family  had  found  its  way  across  the  Atlan- 
tic into  the  possession  of  clansmen. 

The  Scotch  names  known  in  the  American  set- 
tlements are  as  thick  as  autumnal  leaves.  Prof. 
John  Anderson  founded  the  Anderson  University 
in  1795;  a  street  is  named  Cochran;  and  near 
each  other  were  merchants  named  Barr,  Wal- 
lace, and  Morrison.  In  the  Londonderry,  N.  H., 
settlement,  more  than  i6o  years  ago,  lived  John 
Barr,  keeper  of  a  public  house  and  a  beer-seller; 
and  here  was  a  sign  over  a  door,  "John  Barr, 
ale  and  beer-seller."  What's  in  a  name?  The 
manner  of  naming  streets  greatly  perplexes  a 
stranger,  as  different  ones  are  attached  to  differ- 
ing sections  of  the  same  one.  A  street  which  runs 
parallel  with  the  Clyde  in  one  part  is  called  the 
"  Gallow  gate,"  as  criminals  were  once  executed 
there ;   another  portion   is  called  the  Tron  gate, 


Il6  CURIOUS   WYNDS. 

another  Argyle  street.  The  latter  is  the  great  busi- 
ness thoroughfare  of  Glasgow.  Curious  wynds,  or 
closes,  run  off  of  these  old  streets,  which  once  dis- 
played many  features  of  taste  and  opulence,  but 
now  are  smoky,  dingy  lanes,  often  leading  to  the 
homes  of  poverty,  wretchedness,  and  crime.  The 
older  part  of  the  city  is  far  from  attractive,  while 
the  new  sections  are  elegant,  with  fine  streets, 
circling  terraces,  imposing  blocks,  and  mansions 
of  the  wealthy  inhabitants. 

There  are  parks  of  beauty,  magnificent  bridges, 
great  blocks,  and  public  buildings,  all  so  strongly 
constructed  that  they  will  last  for  centuries.  The 
Clyde  is  one  of  the  finest  rivers  of  Scotland, 
Lovely  villages,  with  houses  of  light  sandstone, 
nestle  upon  its  banks,  among  the  encircling  hills. 
At  one  point  a  wealthy  land-owner  had  acres  of 
plantations,  where  the  trees  were  so  arranged  as 
to  represent  the  different  divisions  of  the  contend- 
ing armies  at  Waterloo. 

An  English  gentleman  was  my  companion  in 
walks  around  Glasgow  and  vicinity,  and  who 
subsequently  accompanied  me  in  rambles  in  and 
around  London,  which  was  familiar  ground  to 
him.  Visited  Paisley,  a  dark,  smoky  town,  eight 
miles  from  Glasgow.  The  streets  are  narrow,  with 
houses  covered  with  tile  roofs.  It  is  full  of  great 
works,  whose  tall  chimneys  continually  belch  forth 
volumes  of  smoke.  The  most  interesting  building 
is  the  abbey,  founded  in  A.  D.  1163.     A  part  is 


I 


BRAES  OF  GLENIFFER.  1 1? 

in  ruins,  but  a  portion  in  perfect  preservation  is 
now  used  as  a  place  of  worship.  Ten  pillars,  sev- 
enteen feet  high,  finely  moulded,  divide  the  aisles 
from  the  body  of  the  nave. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  church  there  is  a  small 
chapel,  called  St.  Mirren's  aisle,  possessing  a  re- 
markable echo,  which  has  given  it  the  name  of 
the  "Sounding  aisle."  This  gallery  has  stained 
glass  windows  of  costliness  and  beauty. 

Rising  700  feet  in  height,  in  plain  view  of  the 
station,  overlooking  the  city,  are  the  "Braes  of 
Gleniffer."  They  are  a  favorite  resort,  and  are 
rendered  famous  by  the  genius  of  the  sweet,  sad 
poet,  Robert  Tannahill,  born  in  Paisley,  June  3, 
1774,  who  in  a  fit  of  melancholy  drowned  himself 
May  17.  1810.  The  hills,  sharply  outlined  against 
the  sky,  could  be  plainly  seen,  and  the  several 
places  which  were  favorite  resorts  of  the  poet. 

"  Keen  blaws  the  wind  o'er  the  braes  o'  Gleniffer; 
The  auld  bastle  turrets  are  covered  vvi'  snaw : 
How  chang'd  sin'  the  time  that  I  met  wi'  my  lover, 
Amang  the  green  bushes  by  Stanley  gree  shaw." 

******* 
"  The  trees  are  a'  bare,  an'  the  birds  mute  an'  dowie  ; 

They  shake  the  cauld  drift  frae  their  wings  as  they  flee ; 
They  chirp  out  their  plaints,  seeming  wae  for  my  Johnie  : 
'Tis  winter  wi'  them,  an'  it's  winter  wi'  me." 

Among  those  to  whom  Scotland  and  the  world 
owe  a  debt  of  gratitude,  which  can  never  be  paid, 
for  what  they  have  done  for  Scotia,  are  Robert 
Burns,  Jane  Porter,  Walter  Scott,  and   Lord  Ma- 


Il8  GIFTED  AUTHORS. 

caulay,  of  the  past,  and  William  Black,  of  the  pres- 
ent. By  their  writings  they  have  made  Scotland's 
fame  secure  forever.  They  have  invested  places, 
scenes,  and  people  with  wondrous  charms.  They 
have  thrown  around  her  mountains,  her  iron 
coasts,  and  her  tossing  seas  a  marvellous  fascina- 
tion. They  have  made  her  heroes  and  heroines 
by  their  prominence  seem  like  the  gods  and  god- 
desses of  ancient  mythology.  This  is  from  a  his- 
torical and  literary  standpoint :  from  a  practical 
and  financial  view,  the  debt  is  still  as  great.  In 
consequence  of  their  writings,  many  thousands  of 
visitors  from  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe  throng 
the  land  every  year  to  visit  the  hallowed  spots — 
and  leave  their  money.  It  is  safe  to  assert  that 
no  five  business  men  have  ever  been  of  so  much 
practical  and  financial  value  to  Scotland  as  these 
rare  authors,  who  have  charmed  the  world  with 
the  products  of  their  brain. 

Jane  Porter  was  the  gifted  author  of  "The  Scot- 
tish Chiefs."  Many  happy  hours  in  my  childhood 
were  spent  in  its  perusal,  and  not  till  the  "  flood- 
gates of  life  are  closed  in  rest"  can  be  effaced  from 
my  memory  and  heart  the  admiration  which  it 
taught  me  for  Sir  William  Wallace.  With  power 
has  she  drawn  the  quiet  beauty  of  Elderslie,  the 
attractions  of  his  home,  the  grace,  the  loveliness, 
the  charm  of  manner  of  Wallace's  companion,  and 
the  fact  that  their  souls  were  knit  together  by  the 
strong,  tender  ties  of  deep  affection. 


HOME   OF  SIR    WILLIAM   WALLACE. 


119 


My  friend  and  I  visited  Elderslie.  It  is  a  strag- 
gling village  of  some  seventy-five  houses,  inhab- 
ited by  operatives.  The  country  is  still  pretty,  but 
not  romantic.  We  passed  over  the  ground  once 
pressed  by  the  feet  of  the  Scottish  chieftain,  and 
visited  the  dwelling  which  stands  upon  the  spot 
where  his  house  stood.  We  saw  what  is  reputed  to 
be  the  original  fireplace  of  Wallace's  house.  Over 
this,  a  little  at  one  side  and  three  and  a  half  feet 
from  the  floor,  is  an  underground  passage  perhaps 
twenty  rods  in  length,  which  emerges  in  a  gar- 
den near  where  Wallace's  oak  stood.  Through 
this  he  is  said  to  have  escaped  from  his  enemies, 
and  secreted  himself  in  an  oak.  The  spot  where 
the  latter  stood  is  still  pointed  out.  A  large  yew- 
tree  several  hundred  years  of  age  grows  near  the 
house.  With  the  permission  of  the  proprietor  I 
climbed  into  it  and  cut  some  sprigs,  which  were 
preserved  as  a  reminder  of  the  home  of  the  Scot- 
tish chieftain. 

On  April  25th  my  friend  and  I  sailed  down  the 
Clyde  to  Rothesay,  in  the  island  of  Bute,  which  is 
one  of  the  pleasantest  excursions  on  the  river. 
The  walls  along  the  banks  must  be  some  twenty- 
five  feet  in  height,  as  they  go  deep  into  the  water. 
A  short  distance  from  the  city  is  the  large  brick 
factory  of  an  American  firm,  "The  Singer  Sewing 
Machine  Co." 

The  Clyde  is  lined  with  ship-yards,  as  this  is 
the    greatest    ship-building    place    in    the    world. 


I20 


DUMBARTON  CASTLE. 


Ships  on  the  stocks  were  as  numerous  as  leaves 
on  forest  trees,  and  the  workmen  on  all  parts  of 
the  vessels  were  as  thick  as  bees  around  the 
mouth  of  a  hive,  and  the  noise  they  made  was 
deafening.  We  passed  Dumbarton  castle,  a  mile 
in  circumference,  and  which  rises  two  hundred  and 

forty  feet  out  of  the 
water.      "Wallace's 


peak "  is  the  high- 
est point.  It  is  a 
place  of  great  an- 
tiquity, and  ancient- 
ly one  of  the  impor- 
tant strongholds  of 
Scotland.  It  is  a  wild,  romantic  spot.  On  the 
return  we  visited  Greenock.  The  new  cemetery 
is  on  a  sloping  hill,  300  feet  above  the  sea,  and  its 
situation  is  beautiful. 

Greenock  is  naturally  interesting.  But  not  its 
native  beauty  alone  would  cause  the  traveller  to 
prolong  his  stay.  That  which  gives  it  its  celebrity 
is  the  fact  that  in  its  old  cemetery  lies  buried  one, 
attractive  in  herself,  whom  the  love  and  adoration 
of  one  man,  with  the  magic  of  his  pen,  have  made 
immortal,  whose  resting-place  is  historic,  and  to 
which  pilgrims  come  from  every  clime.  It  is  the 
grave  of  Mary  Campbell,  the  dairy-maid,  known 
the  world  over  as  Burns's  "Highland  Mary,"  one 
who  was  to  have  been  his  bride.  He  loved  his 
Highland    Mary    with   a   constancy  which    never 


THE  DROSS   WAS  BURNED  AWAY.  121 

faltered  in  its  devotion,  which  from  its  nature 
could  know  no  death.  When  her  footsteps  fal- 
tered, when  her  feet  touched  the  cold  waters  of 
the  river  of  death,  then  he  "trod  the  wine-press" 
of  sorrow  alone,  and  from  his  suffering  soul  came 
forth  the  purest,  truest  sentiments  he  ever  ex- 
pressed. The  dross  was  burned  away,  the  pure 
gold  was  revealed,  the  diamond  shone  with  bright- 
est lustre.  On  the  anniversary  of  the  day  on 
which  he  heard  of  her  death  he  gave  expression 
to  his  feelings  in  an  address  to  "  Mary  in  Heaven." 

"  Thou  ling'ring  star,  with  less'ning  ray, 
That  lov'st  to  greet  the  early  morn, 
Again  thou  usher'st  in  the  day 

My  Mary  from  my  soul  was  torn. 
*  *  *  * 

"  My  Mary,  dear  departed  shade, 

Where  is  thy  blissful  place  of  rest  ? " 

In  "David  Copperfield"  Steerforth  said,  "Think 
of  me  at  my  best,"  a  custom  not  always  followed 
"in  the  corrupted  currents  of  this  world,"  This 
poem  showed  Burns  at  his  best.  From  this  deep 
grief,  his  great  loss,  and  abiding  sorrow,  his  an- 
guished spirit  found  expression  in  one  of  the 
sweetest  sonnets  ever  penned.  The  pathos  of  no 
sweeter  song  ever  made  responsive  chords  in 
human  hearts  vibrate  with  livelier  sympathy.  P^or 
him  life's  grief,  life's  loss,  life's  great  calamity, 
brought  their  compensation  ;  they  developed  and 
revealed  in  him  a  sympathy,  tenderness,  and  nobil- 
ity never  dreamed   of  before.     Had   Mary  lived, 


122  GRAVE   OF  HIGHLAND   MARY. 

that  poem  would  never  have  been  written.  That 
evidence  of  the  deep  tenderness  of  his  nature,  that 
monument  of  his  genius,  would  not  excite  the 
sympathy  and  admiration  of  all  time.  As  a  conse- 
quence the  world  forgives  much  in  the  life  and 
character  of  Burns. 

In  the  Old  West  Kirk  cemetery  is  her  grave. 
Above  her  rises  a  marble  shaft,  with  figures  rep- 
resenting her  last  parting  from  Burns,  and  below 
is  a  poetical  quotation. 

Erected 
over  the    grave    of 
Highland  Mary, 
1842. 

My  Mary,  dear  departed  shade, 
Where  is  thy  home  of  blissful  rest  ? 

An  iron  railing  surrounds  the  lot.  With  the 
permission  of  the  guide  I  cut  a  few  leaves  from  a 
shrub  which  grew  above  her,  and  pressing  them 
out  carefully  I  sent  them  to  widely  separated 
friends  in  the  United  States  as  precious  memen- 
tos of  her,  the  loved  of  Burns,  who  was  cut  down 
in  her  beautiful  youth  ! 

The  kirk  is  an  ancient  structure,  founded  in 
1589.  James  Watt,  the  utilizer  of  steam,  is  there 
buried.  Among  the  surnames  on  tombstones  fa- 
miliar to  us  in  America  are  those  of  Peter  Camp- 
bell, John  Brown,  John  Morrison,  Malcolm  Mc- 
Gregor, James  Ramsay,  and  John  Allison.  Mem- 
bers of  the  Jameson  family,  and  others,  are  among 
the  quiet  sleepers. 


HOME   OF  THE  NESMITH  FAMILY.  l23 

Twelve  miles  from  the  city  of  Glasgow  are  two 
of  the  early  homes  of  the  Nesmith  or  Naesmith 
family:  one  is  at  Hamilton,  and  one  at  Auchingray- 
mont,  also  in  the  county  of  Lanark.     The  name 
is  said  to  have  originated  in  this  way  :   Between 
September  8,  1249,  when  Alexander  III  of  Scot- 
land   was    crowned    king,   and    March    16,    1286, 
when   he  died,  the  legend  runs  that  an  aide-de- 
camp  of  the   king,   on  the   eve   of  a  battle,  was 
required  by  him  to  mend  his  armor.     Though  a 
man   of  powerful   physique,  and  a  brave  warrior, 
he    was   unsuccessful    as    a    mechanic.      For    his 
prowess,  great  daring,  and  heroic  achievements  in 
the  battle  he  was  knighted  by  the  king  with  this 
laconic  saying,  that  "although  he  was  nae  smith, 
he  was  a  brave  gentleman."     The  armorial  bear- 
ings of  the  family  refer  to  this  remark.     A  drawn 
sword   between   two  war  hammers  or  "martels" 
broken,  with  the  motto  in  old  Scotch  dialect,  "Not 
by  knaverie   \i.  e.,  art  or  skill]  but  by  braverie." 
The  Naesmiths  of  Posso,  in  the  county  of  Peebles, 
are  the  head  of  this  family,  and  descendants  of  the 
gallant  knight.     They  have  owned   land  on   the 
Tweed    since   the    13th    century.     Hamilton    and 
Auchingraymont  are  only  a  short  distance   from 
Posso.     At  the  former  place  the  male  line  became 
extinct  in  Arthur  Nesmith  in  1765.     The  ances- 
tor of  the  Nesmith  family  of  New  Hampshire  and 
Massachusetts    emigrated    from    Scotland   to   the 
shores  of  the  river  Bann,  in  the  north  of  Ireland, 


124         BIRTHPLACE  OF  MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS. 


in  1690.  He  had  a  son  Arthur  who  died  in  Ire- 
land ;  another  son  Arthur  who  died  in  London- 
derry, N.  H.  ;  and  the  name  has  been  perpetuated 
in  every  generation  save  one  to  the  present.  This 
is  strong  presumptive  evidence  that  these  are 
branches  of  the  same  family.  There  were  John 
and  Thomas  Nesmith,  of  Pennsylvania,  in  1730, 
who  left  descendants,  who  are  unquestionably  of 
the  same  family,  as  the  same  names  appear  as 
among  the  Nesmiths  in  Scotland. 

On  Saturday,  April  26,  I  left  Glasgow  for  Edin- 
burgh, passing  through  a  rich  and  highly  culti- 
vated country.  It  was  a  great  surprise  to  me  to 
find  such  excellent  land,  and  yielding  such  abun- 
dant harvests.  The  lowlands  are  a  fine  country, 
agriculturally  considered,  as  the  rich,  well  culti- 
vated fields  fully  attested.     Women   and  children 

work  much  in 
the  fields,  as 
they  do  in  all 
parts  of  Eu- 
rope. One  of 
the  most  im- 
portant   places 

Linlithgow  Castle.  between     Glas- 

gow and  Edinburgh  was  Linlithgow,  an  old  town 
dating  from  the  12th  century.  Linlithgow  palace 
could  be  seen  standing  on  the  margin  of  a  lake. 
It  was  once  a  favorite  resort  of  the  royal  family  of 
Scotland.  It  is  described  by  Walter  Scott  in 
"Marmion"  as  follows: 


RUnVS  OF  THE  ROMAN  WALL.  125 

*'  Of  all  the  palaces  so  fair, 
Built  for  the  royal  dwelling 
In  Scotland,  far  beyond  compare, 
Linlithgow  is  excelling." 

There  Queen  Mary  was  born  Dec.  7,  1542.  In 
1745-46  it  was  reduced  to  its  present  ruinous 
condition.  On  the  route  we  passed  remains  of 
the  Roman  wall,  built  in  the  early  part  of  the 
Christian  era.  Our  road  ran  along  for  some  dis- 
tance by  the  side  of  the  "old  wall,"  and  inter- 
sected it  at  one  point.  Huge  mounds  of  earth, 
resembling  the  remains  of  a  railway,  green  with 
grass,  is  about  all  there  is  to  mark  the  work  of  the 
Roman  builders.  Thus  time  levels,  smooths,  and 
will  finally  obliterate  that  great  work  of  the  invad- 
ing yet  civilizing  conquerors. 


CHAPTER   V. 

EDINBURGH    THE    QUEEN    CITY. 

WDINBURGH  at  last  burst  upon  our  view. 
MT  We  reached  the  outskirts,  passed  the  city  of 
the  dead,  and  entered  the  city  of  the  hving.  The 
train  ghded  along  the  valley  in  which  are  situated 
the  Princes  Street  Gardens,  where  was  once  a 
river,  at  the  very  base  of  the  grandest  old  casde 
in  Europe,  which  looked  down  frowningly  upon 
us,  and  entered  the  Waverly  station.  Ascending 
long  flights  of  stone  steps,  we  were  on  Princes 
street,  the  finest  in  Edinburgh.  A  drizzling 
rain  was  falling,  such  a  rain  as  is  liable  to  come 
every  fifteen  minutes  during  the  brightest,  sun- 
niest day  that  ever  dawned  on  Edinburgh.  I  se- 
cured very  comfortable  apartments  at  No.  7  Fred- 
erick street,  within  a  stone's  throw  of  Princes 
street,  and  in  plain  view  of  the  casde.  From  the 
house  one  could  see  the  red-coated  soldiers,  hear 
the  booming  gun  at  sunrise  and  sunset,  the  re- 
veille call,  and  listen  to  the  beating  drums  and  the 
playing  of  the  bagpipes.  By  securing  lodgings 
one  is  relieved  of  the  intolerable  nuisance  of 
being  obliged,  after  paying  an  exorbitant  hotel 
bill,  of  feeing  half  a  score  of  servants.     I  enjoyed 


IN  APARTMENTS.  127 

apartments  very  much,  and  secured  them  in  all 
the  cities  where  my  stay  was  for  any  considerable 
time.  My  room  was  as  cosey  and  homelike  in  an 
hour's  time  after  I  secured  it  as  if  it  had  always 
been  my  home.  When  I  returned  in  the  evening 
the  door  of  my  room  stood  invitingly  open,  and 
the  gas  was  lighted.  An  open  coal  fire  burned 
cheerily  on  the  hearth,  the  large  arm-chair  was 
trundled  up  before  it,  and  the  bedspread  thrown 
back  ready  for  my  night's  repose.  These  people 
have  a  wonderful  faculty  of  making  their  guests 
comfortable. 

Persons  occupying  apartments  do  not  board 
with  the  family  letting  them  rooms,  but  each  one 
orders  the  kind  of  food  wished,  which  is  cooked, 
and  served  in  his  room.  He  might  live  for  weeks 
and  months  and  never  meet  to  speak  with  the 
person  occupying  the  next  apartment.  In  Ireland 
and  Scotland,  Scotch  porridge  is  the  universal 
dish  for  breakfast.  It  is  known  as  oatmeal  pud- 
ding in  the  United  States.  Mutton  chop  is  con- 
sidered preferable  to  beef. 

Among  my  fellow-lodgers  were  Mrs.  Patterson 
and  daughter.  The  former  was  a  widow  of  Col. 
Patterson  of  the  British  army.  They  were  near 
relatives  of  Mrs.  Patterson  of  Baltimore,  the  first 
wife  of  Jerome  Bonaparte.  There  was  also  a  Mr. 
Smith,  a  very  bright  young  law  student,  graduate 
of  Edinburgh  University,  and  a  direct  descendant 
of  Flora  McDonald. 


128 


THE   CASTLE. 


The  entrance  to  houses  is  often  by  a  spiral 
stone  staircase  to  reach  the  different  stories  or 
flats. 

I  was  now  in  Edinburgh,  the  Queen  City  of 
Scotland,  so  beautiful  for  situation,  so  romantic  in 
her  history,  and  which  is  adorned  with  the  strong 
battlements  of  the  Old  Castle  as  a  coronet  on  her 
brow.  Paris  and  Brussels  surpass  her  in  artificial 
beauty,  but  for  those  charms  which  come  from  nat- 
ure's own  lavish  hand  few  cities  in  the  world  can 

equal  her.  I  was  delight- 
ed with  Edinburgh  and 
with  her  people. 

The  castle  is  the  most 
renowned  one  in  Europe. 
It  stands  on  a  precipitous 
rock  383  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  and  cov- 
ers an  area  of  six  acres. 
It  consists  of  barracks  for 
2,000  soldiers,  and  an  armory  for  300,000  stand 
of  arms.  Here,  keeping  watch  and  guard,  and 
mounted  high  on  the  parapet  of  old  Edingburgh's 
castle, — the  king's  bastion, — and  overlooking  the 
wonderful  panorama  of  city  and  country  and  sea, 
lies  Mons  Meg,  the  famous  piece  of  ordnance 
which  is  said  to  have  been  forged  at  Mons  in  Bel- 
gium in  1476.  James  IV  employed  it  at  the 
siege  of  Dumbarton  in  1489.  It  burst  when  fir- 
ing a  salute   in   honor  of  the  duke   of  York  in 


SCOTLAND'S  REGALIA.  1 29 

1682;  was  removed  to  the  Tower  of  London  in 
1754;  and  was  restored  to  Scodand  through  the 
intervention  of  Scott  in  1829.  It  is  about  twenty 
inches  in  diameter,  and  is  composed  of  thick  iron 
bars  looped  together. 

Near  where  this  monster  gun  is  lying  is  the 
small  chapel  of  St.  Margaret,  founded  before  i\.  D. 
1093.  In  a  room  of  the  castle  was  born  King 
James  I  of  England.  When  eight  days  old  the 
future  king  was  put  into  a  basket,  and  from  a 
window  lowered  down  the  precipitous  sides  of 
the  cliff,  several  hundred  feet,  to  the  ground 
below.  The  Crown  Room  contains  the  regalia  so 
precious  to  all  Scotchmen,  and  guarded  with  jeal- 
ous care.  There  is  the  crown  of  pure  gold,  dating 
from  the  time  of  Robert  Bruce,  a  sword  of  state, 
the  sceptre,  the  rod  of  office  of  the  lord  treasurer, 
the  royal  jewels,  the  order  of  the  garter,  the 
badge  of  the  thistle,  and  the  coronation  ring  of 
Charles  I.  All  these  are  of  exceeding  interest, 
and  carry  one's  mind  backward  over  the  vanished 
centuries.  From  the  high  walls  surrounding  the 
castle  is  obtained  an  excellent  view  of  the  city 
and  the  country  around.  The  Princes  Street 
Gardens,  at  the  base  of  the  castle,  are  a  part  of  a 
narrow  vale  extending  from  the  western  extremi- 
ty of  Castle  Rock  to  the  south-east  base  of  Calton 
Hill.  This  valley  was  once  covered  by  a  lake  call- 
ed the  North  Loch ;  and  on  this  spot,  now  so  lovely 
with  gravelly  walks,  and  trees  and  beds  of  flowers 


130 


THE    VANISHED  LAKE, 


of  endless  variety,  adorned  with  statues,  and  where 
waters  sparkle  and  glisten  as  they  issue  from 
streaming  fountains — on  this  spot,  now  almost 
a  fairy  land,  in  1398,  then  a  lake,  was  held  a  brill- 
iant tournament  under  the  auspices  of  the  rulers 
of  Scotland.  This  ravine  divides  old  Edinburgh 
from  the  new,  and  across  it  are 
built  solid,  spanning  bridges  firm 
as  the  earth. 

Overlooking  this  fairy-like  vale 
is  the  monument  to  Walter  Scott, 
erected  in  1840-44  at  a  cost  of 
$78,000.  It  is  200  feet  high,  and 
adorned  with  thirty-two  statuettes 
Scott's  Monument,  of  prominent  characters  mentioned 
in  the  novels  of  Scott,  besides  a  sitting  statue  of 
the  great  novelist.  From  the  summit  is  a  pleas- 
ing view  of  the  city.  Near  by  is  the  royal  insti- 
tution containing  the  Antiquarian  Museum  and 
Statue  Gallery.  The  museum  contains  the  most 
valuable  collection  of  antiquities  in  Scotland. 

At  the  eastern  portion  of  the  city  rises  Calton 
Hill,  344  feet  above  sea  level.  Numerous  mon- 
uments adorn  it.  I  wended  my  way  to  the  top 
of  Nelson's  monument,  from  which  I  looked  down 
some  400  feet  to  see  the  people  and  carriages 
travelling  in  the  streets.  The  country  for  miles 
around  was  distinctly  visible.  On  the  west  is  Prin- 
ces street,  with  its  array  of  monuments  and  a  sea 
of  buildings,  with  the  castle  over  which  floated 


HEART  OF  MIDLOTHIAN:  131 

gaily  the  flag  of  Great  Britain;  on  the  south 
are  the  unattractive  portions  of  old  Edinburgh; 
on  the  north  is  the  new  town ;  and  to  the  east  is 
the  Firth  of  Forth,  with  Bass  Rock  rising  from  the 
waters.  The  National  monument,  commenced  in 
honor  of  the  soldiers  who  died  at  Waterloo,  re- 
mains in  an   unfinished  condition. 

The  University  of  Edinburgh  dates  from  A.  D. 
1582.  Its  library  exceeds  150,000  volumes,  and 
its  students  number  more  than  1800  men. 

I  attended  services  the  first  Sabbath  at  the  cel- 
ebrated church  of  St.  Giles,  of  the  established 
Presbyterian  denomination.  In  this  building,  on 
the  13th  of  October,  1643,  the  Solemn  League 
and  Covenant  (which  gave  rise  to  the  term  Cove- 
nanter) was  sworn  to  and  subscribed  by  the  Com- 
mittee of  Estates  of  Parliament,  the  commission 
of  the  church,  and  the  English  commission.  By 
the  walls  of  the  building  are  the  tombs  of  the 
Regent  Murray  and  Marquis  of  Montrose.  Com- 
ino-  out  of  the  church,  my  attention  was  attracted 
by  the  figure  of  a  heart  in  the  pavement  of  the 
street,  which  marks  the  site  of  the  old  Tolbooth 
gaol,  commonly  called  the  "Heart  of  Midlothian," 
which,  in  a  book  of  that  name,  has  been  immor- 
talized by  Scott.  At  one  side  of  the  church  is 
'  Parliament  square.  The  ground  occupied  by 
this  and  a  portion  of  the  old  Parliament  House  of 
Scotland  was  originally  the  cemetery  of  St.  Giles's 
church.     Near  the  centre  of  the  square,  between 


132  GRAVE   OF  JOHN  KNOX. 

the  church  and  parhament  building,  in  the  pave- 
ment, there  is  a  hght  stone  about  eighteen  inches 
square,  marked  I-K,  1572.  Here  rests  in  his 
last  long  sleep  the  great  Scotch  reformer  John 
Knox.  Since  the  union  of  Scotland  and  England, 
the  Parliament  House  is  used  by  the  supreme 
courts.  The  entire  walls  of  the  great  hall  of  par- 
liament are  lined  with  portraits  of  many  of  the 
best  sons  of  Scotland.  In  another  portion  is  the 
Advocates'  library,  of  more  than  300,000  volumes, 
and  near  it  the  Signet  library,  of  50,000  volumes, 
and  together  they  make  the  most  valuable  library 
in  Great  Britain,  with  the  exception  of  that  in  the 
British  Museum,  London.  The  rarest  books  are 
elegantly  bound.  There  was  a  copy  of  the  Bible 
written  by  hand  in  letters  as  distinct  as  printed 
ones.  It  was  executed  in  the  12th  century,  and 
after  600  years  they  are  as  clear  and  black  as  if 
printed  yesterday. 

Rev.  Horatius  Bonar,  d.  d.,  author  of  many 
charming  religious  hymns,  is  pastor  of  a  church 
in  the  city.  I  went  to  hear  him,  but  failed,  and 
the  same  sunny  Sabbath  afternoon  visited  the 
Grange  Road  cemetery,  where  some  are  sleeping 
whose  lives  honored  Scotland  and  benefited  man- 
kind. There  was  the  grave  of  Rev.  Thomas 
Guthrie,  d.  d.,  and  of  Rev.  Thomas  Chalmers, 
D.D.,  LL.  D.,  the  distinguished  and  eloquent  divine, 
born  March  17,  1780,  and  died  at  Morningside, 
near  Edinburgh,  May  31,  1847.     There,  near  him, 


ARTHUR'S  SEAT. 


133 


resting  peacefully,  was  the  great  self-taught 
Scotch  geologist  Hugh  Miller,  who  died  Decem- 
ber 24,  1856.  Others  known  to  fame  are  buried 
there. 

Passing  out  of  the  cemetery  I  entered  the 
Queen's  park,  with  its  beautiful  hard  road,  which 
leads  around  Salisbury  Crag  to  Arthur's  Seat. 
The  drive  is  ascending,  and  encircles  the  moun- 
tain. A  little  lake  nestles  at  the  mountain's  base. 
Arthur's  Seat  is  the  topmost  pinnacle  of  the 
mountain,  822  feet  high.  For  a  wonder  the  day 
was  bright  and  the  atmosphere  comparatively  clear, 
so  that  the  country  for  miles  around  was  to  be  seen. 
Holyrood   palace  was  in   the  vale   beneath,  while 


<sS»< 


in  the  far  beyond,  hills  and  mountains  with  their 
dark  summits  bounded  the  view.  Descending,  St. 
Anthony's  chapel,  which  once  belonged  to  the  cell 
of  a  hermit,  was  inspected,  while  at  the  foot  of  a 
high  rock  gushed  forth  a  stream  of  pure  water 
dedicated  to  him. 

One  pleasant  afternoon  I  visited  Holyrood  pal- 
ace and  abbey,  which  are  connected.     The  latter 


134  APARTMENTS  OF  QUEEN  MARY. 

is  said  to  have  been  founded  about  A.  D.  1128, 
when  Holyrood  became  the  home  of  royalty.  It 
was  the  principal  residence  of  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots,  the  charming  and  unfortunate  queen,  and 
the  scene  of  the  most  important  transactions  of 
her  court.  In  spite  of  this  fact,  however,  there  is 
hardly  an  old  or  ruined  castle  in  Scotland  in  which 
the  tourist  is  not  told  that  Queen  Mary  spent  a 
night  in  it,  which  makes  the  place  sacred  for- 
ever, of  course.  The  palace  became  the  home 
of  Charles  X  after  his  expulsion  from  France  in 
1830.  and  of  Louis  Philippe  in  1848.  Most  inter- 
esting are  the  historic  rooms  and  places  con- 
nected with  the  life  of  the  beautiful  queen.  They 
remain  as  when  occupied  by  her.  There  is  the 
audience  chamber,  near  it  her  bed-chamber  with 
the  ancient  furniture  and  the  bed  she  occupied, 
with  its  quilts  and  the  tapestry  of  the  room  so  old, 
worn,  and  frail  that  the  slightest  breeze  would  rend 
them  in  tatters.  On  one  side  of  the  room  is  the 
secret  passage  by  which  the  assassins  entered 
when  they  assassinated  Rizzio. 

A  passage  leads  from  her  apartments  to  the 
chapel,  a  part  of  the  ancient  abbey,  which  is  in 
ruins.  The  tombs  of  those  once  powerful,  with 
many  members  of  the  royal  family  and  nobility, 
are  there.  A  portion  is  literally  paved  with 
grave-stones.  In  the  palace  is  a  picture  gallery 
where  the  walls  are  lined  with  good  and  indiffer- 
ent pictures  of  Scottish  kings.     A  portion  of  the 


APARTMEXrS  OF  QUEEN  VICTORIA.  135 

palace  is  still  occupied  by  Queen  Victoria  on  her 
visits,  which,  like  angels'  visits,  are  few  and  far 
between.  My  gentlemanly  attendant,  Mr.  Ander- 
son, informed  me  that  the  public  was  not  admit- 
ted. Not  being  the  "public,"  but  a  private  Amer- 
ican citizen,  I  could  see  no  possible  objection  to 
my  inspecting  that  part  of  the  palace.  Tapping 
with  the  brass  knocker  upon  the  door  of  the  gen- 
tleman who  had  it  in  charge,  I  was  ushered  in,  and 
sent  in  my  card.  He  made  his  appearance,  when 
my  desires  were  explained,  and  he  very  kindly, 
and  contrary  to  custom,  sent  an  attendant  who 
showed  me  over  the  remaining  portion  of  Holy- 
rood  palace.  There  was  the  room  with  the  throne 
at  one  end,  and  various  other  apartments  with 
ancient  tapestried  furniture,  costly  mirrors,  and 
elegant  ceilings. 

Part  of  the  most  repulsive  portion  of  Edinburgh 
is  near  the  palace — so  closely  are  splendor  and 
squalor,  pride  and  poverty,  palace  and  hut,  con- 
nected. 

Emerging  from  the  palace,  I  entered  at  once 
the  Canongate,  a  street  once  the  abode  of  the 
rich, — the  learning,  wit,  fashion,  and  beauty  of 
Edinburgh.  Out  of  now  repulsive  tenements 
bright  eyes  once  looked,  of  the  fairest,  sweet- 
est, and  most  cultured  people  of  Scotland.  The 
houses  preserve  their  ancient  appearance.  Circu- 
lar stairways,  partially  on  the  exterior,  lead  to  all 
the  stories.     Narrow,  curious  wynds  or  closes  run 


136  CHANGES   WROUGHT  BY   TIME. 

at  right  angles  from  the  street,  which  often  lead 
to  ancient  orardens  of  the  former  dwellers.  The 
wynds  are  unclean  and  repulsive,  and  no  one 
would  penetrate  them  except  for  their  historic 
interest.  Each  close  has  a  history:  it  generally 
led  to  the  residence  of  some  illustrious  man. 
Old  names  are  there,  and  the  arms  of  noble  fam- 
ilies can  still  be  traced  above  some  of  the  doors 
of  entrance.  Houses  once  the  abode  of  the 
proudest  nobles  of  Scotland  are  occupied  by  pov- 
erty-stricken and  degraded  tenants. 

It  is  marvellously  interesting  to  go  up  and 
down  Canongate,  and  muse  over  the  past  and  the 
transitions  Time  has  wrought.  Through  this  street 
the  most  illustrious  men  and  women  passed  daily. 
There  went  John  Knox  the  great  reformer,  the 
iron-willed  protector  Oliver  Cromwell,  Robert 
Burns  the  poet  of  the  soil,  David  Hume  the  his- 
torian, and  Ben  Jonson.  It  was  familiar  ground 
to  Walter  Scott,  who  has  invested  it  all  with  a 
wonderful  interest.  Historic  places  and  buildings 
are  now  the  homes  of  a  drunken,  thieving,  disor- 
derly population.  Such  is  the  difference  between 
the  past  and  the  present. 

Coming  up  the  Canongate  from  Holyrood,  one 
sees  the  Moray  house,  built  in  16 18,  and  occupied 
by  Cromwell  before  and  after  the  battle  of  Dun- 
bar, and  between  1648-50.  Near  by  is  the  Can- 
ongate church,  in  the  cemetery  of  which  are  inter- 
red Adam  Smith  and  the  poet  Ferguson.     The 


MARTYRS  OF  THE   COVENANT. 


137 


Canongate  Tolbooth,  built  in  1591,  is  a  sombre- 
looking  structure,  with  a  projecting  clock  which 
overhangs  the  narrow  sidewalk.  There  is  the 
house  of  John  Knox,  provided  for  him  in  1559 
when  he  was  elected  minister  of  Edinburgh,  and 
where  he  lived  till  his  death,  November  24,  1572. 
The  house  consists  of  three  rooms — sitting-room, 
with  study  and  bed-room. 

In  another  part  of  the  city  is  the  Grey  Friars 
church,  which  takes  its  name  from  an  ancient 
monastery  of  Grey 
Friars,  established 
at  the  Grass  Mar- 
ket close  at  hand. 
The  first  was  erect- 
ed in  1612,  and  it 
was  there  the  first 
signatures  of  the 
National  Covenant 
were  appended  in 
1638.  The  present  church  was  built  since  1845. 
The  cemetery  is  ancient,  and  was  once  the  garden 
of  the  monastery.  After  the  stormy  events  of 
life,  there  rest  many  noted  persons.  I  visited 
this  cemetery  early  on  a  morning  in  spring,  and 
saw  the  various  points  of  interest.  But  this  place 
has  great  celebrity  from  the  fact  that  here  is  the 
Martyrs'  monument,  marking  the  place  where  re- 
pose the  headless  "Martyrs  of  the  Covenant." 
Against  a  wall  in  the  lower  part  of  the  cemetery 
7 


138  PLEASANT  REMINISCENCES. 

the  tomb  is  situated,  and  on  it  is  an  inscription 
telling  the  story  how  some  one  hundred  nobles, 
ministers,  and  gentlemen,  "noble  martyrs  for 
Jesus  Christ,  were  executed  at  Edinburgh  at  the 
time  of  the  Restoration,  and  interred  here." 
Only  a  few  of  the  most  historic  points  of  Edin- 
burgh have  been  alluded  to.  The  places  of  inter- 
est in  new  Edinburgh  are  many.  Their  pub- 
lic buildings  are  on  a  magnificent  scale,  built  to 
stand  for  ages.  The  museums,  churches,  hos- 
pitals, theatres,  post-ofhce,  massive  bridges,  and 
other  things  of  a  public  nature,  are  elegant,  solid, 
and  enduring. 

My  experiences  during  a  stay  of  nearly  a  fort- 
night in  Edinburgh  were  very,  very  pleasant.  I 
was  treated  with  great  kindness  by  persons  whose 
acquaintance  was  made.  Several  years  before,  it 
was  my  privilege  to  become  quite  well  acquainted 
by  correspondence  with  Capt.  F.  W.  L.  Thomas, 
R.  N.,  and  vice-president  of  the  Society  of  Anti- 
quaries of  Scotland.  He  was  author  of  "Tra- 
ditions of  the  Morrisons,"  rather  a  remarkable  his- 
torical pamphlet,  which,  with  his  consent,  was 
embodied  in  the  "  History  of  the  Morison  or  Mor- 
rison Family."  My  presence  in  Edinburgh  was 
made  known  to  him,  and  I  was  immediately  in- 
vited to  visit  him  at  his  pleasant  and  hospitable 
home  at  Rosepark,  Trinity,  Edinburgh.  There  he 
and  his  good  wife  gave  me  the  warmest  greeting, 
and  treated  me  with  all  the  kindness  of  a  life-long 


GENERAL  REGISTER  HOUSE.  I  39 

friend.  At  their  home  I  was  a  frequent  caller. 
To  Henry  Armour,  Esq.,  whose  acquaintance  was 
made  at  Peebles,  I  was  indebted  for  many  courte- 
sies. He  called  for  me  at  my  temporary  home 
with  his  team,  and  drove  me  over  the  larger  part 
of  the  city,  introduced  me  to  his  relatives  and 
friends,  and  dined  me  at  his  club. 

Dr.  Anderson,  a  very  intelligent,  able  man  of 
the  antiquarian  society  and  museum,  showed 
me  courtesies.  I  met  frequently  and  became 
well  acquainted  with  the  U.  S.  consul,  Mr.  Oscar 
Malmross,  an  agreeable  gentleman  from  Minne- 
sota. Other  persons  it  was  my  privilege  to  meet 
whose  acquaintance  was  both  pleasant  and  prof- 
itable. 

From  Dean  bridge,  io6  feet  above  the  bed  of 
the  river  Leith,  the  view  is  one  of  the  loveliest 
in  the  whole  vicinity.  Among  the  narrow  streets 
or  closes,  seven  or  eight  feet  in  width,  is  one  not 
far  from  St.  Giles's  church,  where  the  buildings 
on  either  side  rise  to  a  great  height.  One  is  sur- 
prised at  the  spiral  staircases  which  go  to  the  top- 
most story. 

The  General  Register  House  is  near  the  gen- 
eral post-office,  and  is  a  large  and  fine  building, 
where  are  deposited  most  of  the  public  registers 
and  records  of  all  towns  or  parishes  in  Scotland. 
The  principal  building  has  more  than  one  hundred 
apartments,  where  the  public  business  is  trans- 
acted.    The  charge  is  five  dollars  for  a  general 


140  DIFFICULTY  IN  CONSULTING  RECORDS. 

search  among  wills,  the  same  for  records  of 
births,  deaths,  or  marriages,  or  sixty-two  cents  for 
every  forty  years  one  searches  over.  But  let  no 
American  "take  the  flattering  unction  to  his  soul" 
that  he  will  have  an  easy  time  in  hunting  out  and 
proving  a  claim  to  property  to  which  he  may  be 
an  heir.  He  will  have  to  pay  liberally  for  every 
step  he  takes,  and  obstacles  in  his  way  will  cer- 
tainly not  be  removed  by  British  officials  to  aid 
him  in  getting  what  is  justly  his.  They  are  sus- 
picious of  Americans,  and  will  not  readily  aid  in 
the  transfer  of  British  fortunes  to  America.  The 
records  are  professedly  free  for  literary  or  histor- 
ical purposes,  but  the  rules  are  vexatious.  It 
was  necessary  for  me  to  show  letters  which  I 
bore  from  different  American  societies;  and  after 
considerable  delay  the  records  were  consulted 
without  further  difficulty,  and  every  attention  was 
subsequently  shown  me.  Our  acquaintance  ri- 
pened fast  into  the  most  friendly  regard;  and 
before  leaving  1  had  an  admiration  for  the  ster- 
ling qualities  and  kind  hearts  underneath  such 
cool,  calculating  exteriors.  But  why  should  one 
be  repelling  at  the  start?  Why  should  it  be  nec- 
essary to  break  through  the  outside  crust  so  as  to 
reach  a  person,  and  then  to  thaw  out  the  individ- 
ual? Life  is  too  short,  its  affairs  are  too  press- 
ing; and  in  the  great  majority  of  cases  the  result 
would  not  compensate  for  the  trouble. 

Among  other  things  found  in  this  office,  and 


FAREWELL    TO  EDINBURGH.  I4I 

among  the  many  surnames  familiar  in  America, 
was  a  will  of  Alexander  Park,  dated  February  6, 
1 691;  one  of  Margaret  Dinsmuir,  of  Dunlop, 
dated  May  14,  1688;  one  of  Allan  Anderson,  of 
Dunlop,  dated  June  20,  1694. 

In  closing  this,  and  giving  my  impressions,  I 
will  say  that  British  officials  and  Britons,  as  a  rule, 
generally  have  an  arrogant  air,  a  cool  exterior, 
and  think  themselves  as  good,  certainly,  as  the 
rest  of  created  mortals.  This  is  not  surprising, 
considering  that  they  have  little  to  broaden  their 
ways  of  thinking,  and  are  not  travellers  and 
brought  in  contact  with  the  great  world.  Their 
home  is  in  the  little  islands  of  Great  Britain, 
where  it  is  dangerous  for  one  to  go  to  walk  in  the 
dark  for  fear  of  stepping  into  the  ocean !  They 
are  slow,  conservative,  old-fashioned,  and  narrow 
in  their  views.  They  are  a  people  with  a  cool 
exterior,  but  with  good  hearts  when  you  get  to 
them.  They  are  solid,  substantial,  with  a  large 
amount  of  good  common-sense.  They  know  so 
much,  I  was  surprised  that  in  many  things  they 
did  not  know  more ! 

This  closes  my  life  in  Edinburgh,  the  beautiful 
city.  1  love  to  dwell  upon  the  pleasant  days 
spent  in  this  charming  place,  and  to  review  the 
rambles  among  her  famous  localities.  A  strong 
fascination  clings  to  them  as  they  pass  before  my 
memory. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE     DEBATABLE     LAND. 

EFORE  leaving  the  United  States,  a  friend, 
^  George  W.  Armstrong,  Esq.,  President  of  the 
Armstrong  Transfer  Company,  Boston,  Mass.,  de- 
sired me,  if  possible,  to  find  the  early  home  upon 
the  border,  of  his  family  or  clan,  and  to  visit  the 
old  haunts.  At  Castle  Rock,  Ireland,  I  struck  the 
trail.  This  was  developed  at  Edinburgh,  and  the 
home  was  located  in  the  towns  of.  Cannobie,  New 
Castleton,  Kershopfoot,  and  other  places  in  the 
immediate  vicinity,  near  the  English  border.  On 
May  5  I  left  the  Waverly  station  for  the  "  Debat- 
able Land  "  and  the  English  border,  one  hundred 
miles  away.  The  day  was  delightful.  The  country 
south  of  Edinburgh  is  a  fine  agricultural  section, 
the  land  being  rich  and  well  cultivated.  The 
people  were  at  work  upon  the  land,  and  often 
six  or  seven  women  and  boys  would  be  seen  fol- 
lowing a  cart  and  picking  up  the  rocks  from  the 
well  laid  down  fields. 

Reaching  Melrose,  the  home  of  Walter  Scott  at 
Abbotsford,  three  miles  away,  was  my  objective 
point.  I  shook  myself  clear  of  cabmen,  and 
walked  to  Abbotsford,  and  enjoyed  the   novelty. 


HOME   OF  SIR   WALTER  SCOTT. 


143 


It  is  over  a  hard  road,  and  through  a  country 
pleasing  to  the  eye.  Scott's  home  is  situated  on 
the  south  bank  of  the  Tweed,  in  a  romantic  spot, 
with  the  high  hills  for  a  background. 

The  entrance  is  at  a  wicket  gate  at  the  right 
of  the  highway,  and  the 
mansion  lies  hidden  in  the 
vale  beneath.  The  place 
is  still  in  possession  of  the 
relatives  of  the  great  poet. 
A  shilling  is  charged  for 
admission.  With  other  vis- 
itors, I  was  ushered  by  a 
lady  attendant  into  the 
study,  a  most  interesting  room.  His  plain  arm- 
chair, covered  with  black  leather,  still  stands  in 
close  proximity  to  a  few  books  and  a  small  writ- 
ing-table. A  private  spiral  staircase  led  to  his 
bed-room.  The  attendant  led  the  way  into  a  large 
apartment,  which  was  the  poet's  library.  Its  roof 
is  of  oak,  and  some  of  the  fine  carvings,  which  I 
afterwards  saw  at  Roslin  chapel,  are  reproduced 
here.  This  literary  workshop  of  Scott's  contains 
20,000  volumes,  and  was  very  different  from  that 
of  the  Ayrshire  poet,  Robert  Burns.  The  draw- 
ing-room has  portraits  of  the  poet  and  of  Oliver 
Cromwell.  The  dining-room,  not  always  open  to 
visitors,  was  shown  us,  with  its  large  number  of 
pictures.  Here  Scott  died,  September  21.  1832. 
Each  morning  during  his  last  illness  he  required 


144  HOME    OF  SIR    WALTER  SCOTT. 

his  attendant  to  move  him  near  the  window,  where 
he  gazed  with  dehght  upon  the  gently  flowing 
waters  of  the  Tweed.  It  was  separated  from  the 
mansion  by  a  finely  laid  out  and  beautifully  kept 
lawn  of  a  few  rods  in  width. 

The  guide  called  our  attention  to  the  suit  of 
clothes  worn  by  Scott  before  his  last  sickness. 
In  a  long-  box  is  the  broad-skirted  grreen  coat  with 
its  large  buttons,  the  Scotch  plaid  trousers,  the 
hat  with  its  broad  brim,  the  heavy  shoes,  and  the 
cane.  The  armory  and  hall  were  most  interest- 
ing. The  walls  are  hung  with  many  varieties  of 
ancient  armor  and  implements  of  warfare.  There 
are  the  richly  emblazoned  arms  of  various  border 
families,  such  as  the  Kerr,  now  generally  called 
Carr,  the  Douglass,  the  Armstrong,  the  Scott,  the 
Elliot,  the  Turnbull,  the  Maxwell,  and  the  Chis- 
holm.  These  were  of  great  interest  to  me,  as  I 
was  on  a  pilgrimage  to  the  "Debatable  Land,"  the 
homes  of  these  rival  and  oftentimes  contending 
clans.  The  floor  was  made  of  white  marble  and 
black  marble,  brought  from  the  Hebrides.  In  the 
garden  adjoining  the  mansion  are  statues  and 
relics,  and  the  outer  walls  are  heavy  with  the 
dense  ivy. 

While  wandering  over  this  place,  so  Interesting 
to  every  intelligent  person,  one  could  not  but 
think  of  the  mighty  influence  which  had  gone 
forth  from  this  retreat  among  the  hills,  and  which 
will  endure  always.     It  was  the  fruit  of  his  genius 


THE   CLAN  OF  SCOTT.  I45 

and  facile  pen,  and  spoke  of  his  abounding  patri- 
otism and  love  of  the  Fatherland.  He  made 
famous  forever  multitudes  of  Scottish  places,  to 
which  thousands  of  tourists  yearly  go,  rendering 
their  meed  of  praise  to  Sir  Walter  Scott.  His 
writinofs  enriched  Scotch  literature,  and  benefited 
mankind ;  they  also  enriched  and  will  continue 
to  enrich  year  by  year  the  purses  of  Scotchmen 
by  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars,  gathered 
from  the  multitude  of  tourists  who  throng  Scot- 
land. Thus  doubly  was  he  the  benefactor  of  his 
native  land. 

The  poet  belonged  to  the  clan  of  Scott  which 
in  its  several  branches  in  different  localities  of 
Scotland  has  been  so  numerous  and  powerful  for 
many  centuries.  He  was  of  the  Harnden  branch, 
which  was  from  the  Buccleuch  family,  and  accord- 
ing to  the  genealogy  prepared  by  Sir  Walter  Scott 
himself,  is  traced  back  to  Uchtred  Fitz-Scott,  or 
Filius  Scott,  who  flourished  during  the  reign  of 
David  I,  and  who  witnessed  two  charters,  granted 
by  that  monarch  in  1 128  and  1 130.  It  is  supposed 
that  the  Barony  of  Scottstown  in  the  county  of 
Peebles  was  possessed  by  the  forefathers  of  Uch- 
tred since  the  days  of  Kenneth  III.  Peebles  is 
only  a  short  distance  from  Abbotsford.  The  land 
possessions  of  this  family  have  been  greater  than 
those  of  any  other  Scottish  family;  its  members 
have  also  held  high  rank  in  worth  and  titles.  The 
present  head  of  the   race  is  the  Duke   of  Buc- 


146  THE  SAUCY  SCOTTS. 

cleuch,  who  owns  vast  tracts  of  country  near  the 
border  of  England,  and  who  has  a  palatial  sum- 
mer residence  at  Bowhill,  near  the  confluence  of 
the  Ettrick  and  Yarrow  rivers.  The  clan  of  Scott 
on  the  border  were  noted  freebooters  in  their 
day,  and  were  called  the  "Saucy  Scotts."  The 
family  is  still  numerous.  Many  representatives 
of  the  race  are  in  America.  Wherever  a  person 
by  the  name  of  Scott  is  met,  it  is  pretty  safe  to 
assert  that  he  or  his  ancestors  are  an  offshoot  of 
the  ancient  clan.  This  remark  is  equally  true  of 
the  Armstrongs,  Chisholms,  Johnstons,  Kerr  or 
Carr,  Douglass,  Elliot,  Turnbull,  and  other  septs 
or  clans  in  Scotland. 

Leaving  the  quiet,  sequestered  retreat  of  Ab- 
botsford,  I  returned  to  Melrose  by  another  route. 
There  were  plantations  of  trees  planted  by  hand, 
running  through  or  completely  around  large  tracts 
of  land,  which  added  beauty  to  the  landscape. 
The  soil  is  red,  similar  to  that  in  parts  of  New 
Jersey.  Melrose  is  a  neat,  solid-looking  place  of 
about  2,000  people.  Many  of  its  streets  are  built 
of  light  sandstone,  slightly  tinctured  by  a  reddish 
color,  which  is  attractive.  The  village  lies  in  the 
valley  of  the  Tweed,  while  the  Eildon  hills  rise 
1,385  feet  above  it.  On  entering  the  village, 
desirinof  some  information,  I  addressed  a  fine  old 
gentleman,  when  he  exclaimed,  "I  don't  know 
you,  sir!"  He  was  quickly  assured  that  I  was 
aware  of  the  fact,  and  that  it  was  probably  one  of 


MELROSE  ABBEY.  147 

the  greatest  misfortunes  of  his  Hfe  that  he  hadn't 
the  pleasure  of  my  acquaintance.  I  explained  to 
him  that  I  was  an  American,  and  would  like  some 
information  on  various  points.  The  cold  exterior 
of  the  Scotchman  thawed  with  my  explanation, 
and  we  walked  into  the  village  in  loving  converse, 
like  old  acquaintances.  Britons  consider  it  a 
breach  of  good  manners  to  speak  without  an 
introduction ;  Americans  do  not  always  stand  on 
formality. 

The  chief  object  in  Melrose  is  the  famous 
abbey,  now  in  ruins.  It  was  founded  by  David  I 
in  1136,  completed  in  1146,  destroyed  by  Edward 
II  of  England  in  1322,  and  rebuilt  from  funds  fur- 
nished by  King  Robert  Bruce.  The  Duke  of 
Buccleuch  is  proprietor,  and  protects  it  from 
further  devastation.  It  is  beautiful  even  in  its 
ruins.  Its  architecture  is  considered  by  good 
judges  the  most  nearly  perfect  of  any  in  existence. 
The  choir  of  the  abbey  and  its  stone  roof  still 
exist.  Within  the  abbey  rest  in  dreamless  sleep 
the  bodies  of  venerable  priests,  brave  warriors, 
and  fair  dames.  The  guide  pointed  out  the  place 
where  w^as  buried  the  heart  of  King  Robert  Bruce, 
after  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  carry  it  to  the 
Holy  Land.  Not  many  years  ago  his  skeleton 
was  discovered,  with  the  breast  bones  sawn 
asunder,  which  was  clone  when  his  heart  was  re- 
moved. There  King  Alexander  II  is  buried. 
John  Morow,  who  claimed  to  be  the  first  grand 


148  THE  KNEE  LINGS  TONE. 

master  of  the  Freemason  lodge  of  Melrose,  is 
there  interred.  An  ancient  kneeling-stone  is 
standing  upright,  with  an  inscription,  "  Pray  for 
the  soul  of  brother  Peter,  the  treasurer."  No  ex- 
planation is  given.  Had  he  absconded  with  the 
funds  of  the  abbey?  Walter  Scott,  in  his  poem, 
has  made  its  beauties  known  to  the  world  : 

"  When  distant  Tweed  is  heard  to  rave. 
And  the  owlet  to  hoot  o'er  the  dead  man's  gvave, 
Then  go,  but  go  alone  the  while, 
And  view  St.  David's  ruined  pile." 

It  takes  off  somewhat  of  the  romance  when  one 
is  informed  that  Sir  Walter  never  visited  the  abbey 
by  moonlight,  but  had  drawn  for  his  description 
upon  his  very  vivid  imagination. 

One  characteristic  of  Britons,  which  strikes 
Americans  as  peculiar,  is  their  unbounded  vener- 
ation for  royalty,  their  great  respect  and  reverence 
for  those  in  higher  positions  than  themselves. 
That  man  would  be  very  unfair  who  would  dispute 
their  claim  to  intelligence,  good  sense,  and  good 
abilities.  They  have  them  all.  In  many  things 
great  prudence  and  judgment,  harmoniously  blend- 
ed with  self-respect,  control  them.  They  are  so 
intelligent,  it  is  surprising  that  they  can  let  their 
reverence  for  persons,  not  one  whit  better  than 
themselves,  and  perhaps  not  half  so  intelligent  or 
interesting,  cloud  and  warp  their  own  self-respect 
and  good  judgment.  Witness  the  changing  of  a 
name  because  Queen  Victoria  walked  through  a 
certain  gate.    The  account  refers  to  Melrose  abbey: 


REVERENCE  FOR  ROYALTY.  I49 

"This  entrance  to  the  church  was  in  ancient 
times  called  the  Valley  gate.  Since  our  beloved 
queen,  escorted  by  the  noble  proprietor  of  the 
abbey,  His  Grace  the  Duke  of  Buccleuch,  came  in 
by  this  entrance,  the  flowered  bordered  walk,  lead- 
ing north  from  the  cloisters,  has  been  called  the 
Queen's  walk."  Because  the  queen  was  driven 
over  a  main  road  to  reach  Arthur's  Seat  at  Edin- 
burgh, the  road  is  called  the  Queen's  drive.  A 
merchant  would  rather  be  defrauded  of  a  bill  from 
a  nobleman,  than  to  sell  and  get  his  pay  from  a 
common  man.  If  a  tradesman  sells  an  article  to 
her  majesty,  the  fact  is  blazoned  forth  on  the 
sign  over  his  place  of  business.  If  a  harness- 
maker  should  furnish  a  harness  for  one  of  the 
horses  of  the  queen,  on  to  his  sign  would  go, 
"  Harness- Maker  to  Her  Majesty  the  Queen."  If 
a  clothier  should  dispose  of  a  necktie  to  the  Prince 
of  Wales,  on  his  sign  would  be  "choker"  or  neck- 
tie maker  to  His  Royal  Highness  the  Prince  of 
Wales.  If  a  shoe-dealer  should  sell  a  pair  of 
boots  to  the  Duke  of  Edinburgh,  the  world  would 
know  it,  for  his  sign  would  proclaim  him  as  boot- 
maker to  His  Grace  the  Duke  of  Edinburgh.  If 
a  gentleman  of  title  stops  at  a  certain  hotel,  the 
fact  will  sometimes  be  painted  in  glowing  letters 
on  the  exterior  walls  of  the  house,  as  I  saw  it  in 
Glasgow,  and  all  the  lackeys  of  the  hotel  will  pro- 
claim it  for  years  to  come.  It  is  related  of  the 
royal    profligate    George   IV,   who   was    a   great 


150  SCOTT'S  REGARD  FOR  ROYALTY. 

spendthrift,  that  being-  short  of  money,  he  pro- 
cured a  loan  of  a  pawnbroker  by  pawning  various 
articles.  No  sooner  had  he  departed  than  the 
cunning  broker,  following  the  general  custom, 
put  upon  his  sign,  "  Pawnbroker  to  His  Royal 
Highness  George  the  IV."  This  was  so  mortify- 
ing to  the  royal  spendthrift  that  he  paid  a  good 
sum  to  have  the  obnoxious  sign  removed. 

One  of  the  greatest  admirers  of  royalty  and 
the  nobility  that  ever  lived  was  Sir  Walter  Scott. 
Being  present  at  an  entertainment,  George  the 
IV  set  down  a  tumbler  from  which  he  drank,  when 
Scott  seized  it  and  exclaimed  that  it  was  a  sacred 
relic,  and  should  always  be  kept  as  a  precious 
memento  of  the  prince.  Fortunately  the  goblet 
was  afterwards  broken.  Perhaps  if  Scott  had  not 
possessed  this  great  regard  for  birth  and  rank,  he 
would  never  have  written  some  of  his  charming 
works,  and  this  fact  may  compensate  for  his  weak- 
ness. The  queen  also  mentions  in  her  "  Life  in 
the  Highlands"  (p.  117),  that  at  Ballachulish  she 
was  pressed  to  drink,  and  did  drink,  from  a  goblet 
from  which  Prince  Charlie  had  drank  nearly  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  before.  Royalty  and  the 
nobility  are  safe  so  long  as  this  spirit  of  servile 
reverence  is  instilled  into  the  hearts  of  the  people. 

From  Melrose,  my  journey  was  continued  to  St. 
Boswell's  station  and  Dryburgh  abbey.  The  latter 
was  founded  about  1150,  and  is  now  in  ruins. 
The    Tweed    flows    circuitously   about    this    most 


THE   CLAN  MAXWELL.  1 5  I  • 

lovely  spot.  Here  is  the  tomb  of  Sir  Walter  Scott, 
who  was  buried  September  26,  1832,  and  rests  by 
the  side  of  his  maternal  ancestors,  the  Hallibur- 
tons.  Here  Lockhart,  his  son-in-law,  was  buried 
in  1854. 

Dryburgh  abbey  is  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
the  early  home  of  the  great  and  wide-spread  fam- 
ily of  Maxwell.  The  name  was  originally  Maccus- 
well,  so  called  from  territory  of  that  name  on  the 
Tweed,  near  Kelso.  The  Maxwells  have  the  same 
common  ancestors  as  the  Maxtones,  who  derive 
their  name  from  territory  of  that  name  near  Dry- 
burgh abbey.  One  of  this  family  enlarged  his 
litany  by  repeating  daily, — 

"  From  the  greed  of  the  Campbells, 
From  the  pride  of  the  Grahams, 
From  the  ire  of  the  Drummonds, 
And  the  wind  of  the  Murrays, 
Good  Lord,  deliver  its  " 

— which  shows  his  opinion  of  his  powerful  neigh- 
bors. 

In  the  county  of  Roxburgh  was  the  early 
home  of  the  clan  Chisholm,  which  owned  lands 
in  that  county  and  in  the  County  Berwick,  between 
the  years  1241  and  1286.  The  clan  of  this  name 
in  the  county  of  Inverness,  and  others  of  the 
name  in  Scotland,  are  offshoots  of  this  ancient 
family  on  the  border. 

Journeying  southward  and  reaching  Hassen- 
dean,  I  was  in  the  locality  of  the  old  border  clan 


,152  CLANS  CHISHOLM  AND    TURNBULL. 

of  Turnbull  whose  possessions  were  in  this  coun- 
ty of  Roxburgh,  and  the  chief  of  which  hved  at 
Bedrule  castle,  a  short  distance  away. 

In  a  belt  of  country  in  the  southern  part  of 
Scotland,  near  the  border  of  England,  and  now 
embraced  in  the  counties  of  Dumfries  and  Rox- 
burgh, once  dwelt  some  of  the  most  renowned  of 
the  Scottish  Lowland  clans,  some  already  men- 
tioned, but  among  whom  were  the  clans  Johnston, 
Elliot,  Douglass,  Maxwell,  Chisholm,  and  Arm- 
strong, which  recalls  the  lines  in  the  "Lay  of  the 
Last  Minstrel," — 

"  Ye  need  not  go  to  Liddesdale, 
For  when  they  see  the  blazing  vale, 
Elliots  and  Armstrongs  never  fail." 

The  clan  Armstrong  was  one  of  the  most  noted, 
most  numerous,  and  most  powerful  of  the  Low- 
land clans.  The  section  of  country  the  Arm- 
strongs occupied,  being  near  the  English  border, 
was  called  the  "Debatable  Land."  Though  in 
Scotland,  it  was  subject  to  the  claims  of  England, 
and  was  often  overrun  by  the  armies  of  each  king- 
dom, and  sometimes  stripped  and  despoiled  by 
both.  By  the  very  necessities  of  their  condition, 
and  the  troubled  circumstances  in  which  they  were 
placed  by  the  lawlessness  of  the  age,  they  were 
forced  to  resort  to  expedients  not  justifiable  in 
a  more  enlightened  era.  Like  the  neighboring 
clans,  they  followed 


ANTIQUITY  OF  THE   CLAN  ARMSTRONG.  I  53 

"  The  simple  plan, 
That  they  should  take,  who  had  the  power. 
And  they  should  keep,  who  can." 

It  Is  interesting  to  note  the  origin  and  antiquity 
of  the  name  Armstrong.  It  was,  without  doubt, 
conferred  upon  some  individual  of  great  physical 
strength,  or  to  keep  in  perpetual  remembrance 
some  act  of  devotion  and  bravery.  This  view  of 
the  subject  is  sustained  by  the  tradition  that  a 
Scottish  king,  having  his  horse  killed  under  him 
in  battle,  was  immediately  remounted  by  Fair- 
bairn,  his  armor-bearer,  who  took  the  king  by  the 
thigh,  and  set  him  on  his  saddle.  For  this  timely 
assistance  the  king  rewarded  him  with  lands  upon 
the  border,  and  gave  him  the  appellation  of  Arm- 
strong, and  assigned  him,  for  crest,  an  armed  hand 
and  arm;  in  the  left  hand  a  leg  and  foot  in  armor, 
couped  at  the  thigh,  all  proper.  This  crest  is 
borne  at  the  present  day  in  the  arms  of  some 
branches  of  the  family. 

The  name  is  an  ancient  one,  and  is  found 
spelled  in  forty-four  different  ways.  It  was  born 
in  the  county  of  Cumberland,  England,  in  1235, 
or  six  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago;  at  Berwick- 
on-Tweed  in  1335.  Letters  of  safe-conduct  were 
granted  to  William  Armstrong  in  1362  and  1363. 

It  is  not  till  1376  that  any  of  the  name  can  be 
identified  as  belonging  to  Liddesdale,  in  the  "De- 
batable Country,"  but  they  may  have  been  there 
many  years  before. 


154  HOME   OF  GILNOCKIE  ARMSTRONG, 

Though  members  of  the  family  were  found  at 
the  places  before  mentioned,  yet  they  were  only  a 
few  miles  distant  from  the  points  inhabited  by  the 
great  mass  of  the  Armstrongs,  and  it  is  not  un- 
reasonable to  suppose  that  they  were  members  of 
the  same  great  family. 

Soon  after  1376  Alexander  and  David  Arm- 
strong come  in  view.  Robert  Armstrong,  and 
Margaret  Temple,  his  wife,  were  in  possession  of 
a  portion  of  a  manor  in  Thorpe,  England,  in  1377. 
Mangerton  was  an  important  seat  of  the  Arm- 
strongs, and  the  residence  of  Thomas  Armstrong, 
the  chief  of  one  of  its  branches,  and  brother  of 
Johnnie  Armstrong,  of  Gilnockie.  The  original 
deed  to  the  family  having  been  lost  or  destroyed, 
the  town  and  lands  were  regranted  by  Francis, 
Earl  of  Bothwell,  to  Lancelot  Armstrong,  on  the 
ninth  of  October,  1586,  and  remained  in  the  pos- 
session of  his  descendants  till  about  1730. 

Another  important  seat  of  the  family  was  at  the 
"Hollows,"  in  Cannobie,  and  on  the  bank  of,  or 
near,  the  river  Esk.  Here  dwelt  Johnnie  Arm- 
strong, sometimes  called  "  Gilnockie/'  a  celebrated 
border  chieftain,  who  caused  both  English  and 
Scotch  considerable  trouble.  He  was  treacher- 
ously taken  prisoner,  with  many  of  his  retainers, 
in  1530,  by  King  James  V  of  Scotland,  and  he 
and  thirty-five  of  his  men  were  hanged  at  Carlen- 
rig.  His  name  is  still  a  familiar  one  upon  the 
border,  and  in  the  border  poetry. 


IN  THE  DEBATABLE   COUNTRY.  155 

After  visiting  Abbotsford,  Melrose,  and  the 
tomb  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  at  Dryburgh  abbey,  I 
took  the  train  at  St.  Boswell's  station  for  New 
Castleton.  Before  this  town  was  reached  the 
sun  was  sinking  behind  the  western  hills,  and 
flooding  their  loftiest  summits  with  his  glorious 
light.  In  the  south-west,  black,  surging  clouds 
of  billowy  darkness  came  rolling  up  the  sky,  ren- 
dered more  dark  and  vivid  by  the  brightness  of 
the  rays  of  the  setting  sun.  The  old  cemetery  of 
Casdeton,  a  bleak  and  lonely  spot  on  the  hillside, 
where  repose  many  of  the  Armstrongs,  was  plainly 
in  view. 

Night  came  on  apace.  As  blackness  settled 
down  over  slumbering  mountains,  hills,  and  vales, 
I  reached  the  "Debatable  Country;"  was  in  the 
old  home  of  the  Elliots,  the  Johnstons,  the  Scotts, 
the  Armstrongs,  and  other  border  families  whose 
conflicts  have  made  these  localities  historic,  and 
the  clashing  of  whose  swords  and  spears,  echoing 
through  the  advancing  years,  has  reached  this 
distant  age  and  distant  climes. 

The  old  cemetery  at  Casdeton  was  inspected. 
There  were  stones  erected  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Rob- 
ert Armstrong,  who  died  April  i6,  1732,  aged  72, 
being  born  in  1660.  He  was  the  father  of  Dr. 
John  Armstrong,  a  somewhat  noted  physician  and 
poet  of  London,  whose  writings  can  be  found  in 
the  Linen  Hall  library  in  Belfast,  Ireland.  There 
were  stones  to  the  Rev.  William  Armstrong,  and 


156 


THE  MILLHOLM  CROSS. 


to  Robert  Armstrong,  shepherd,  thus  denoting 
his  avocation,  which  is  common  in  the  old  burial- 
places. 

One  mile  south  of  New  Castleton  are  the  four 
spanning  arches  of  the  railroad  bridge  which  cross 
the  bonnie  stream  known  as  the  Liddel  river. 
Near  this,  and  on  the  south-west  bank  of  the 
stream,  can  be  seen  the  ruins  of  Mangerton  castle, 
an  ancient  Armstrong  stronghold.  This  is  twenty 
miles  north-east  of  Carlisle,  England. 

A  short  distance  from  the  Ettleton  cemetery, 
near  the  road,  but  in  a  field,  is  the  old  "Millholm 

cross,"  erected  in 
memory  of  some 
Armstrong  as  early 
as  1350.  It  is  of 
light  sandstone, 
bronzed  and  seam- 
ed by  time.  Carved 
upon  it  are  the  let- 
ters I.  H.  S.  and 
M.  A.  A.  A.,  while 
below    is    a    sword 

Millholm  Cross.  ^\^  ^\^^  poin^  ^q  ^^^ 

earth.  The  cross  has  undergone  some  changes 
at  a  late  period,  but  it  is  an  exceedingly  interest- 
ing relic  of  the  past. 

The  Ettleton  cemetery  lies  on  the  sloping  side 
and  near  the  top  of  a  great  swelling  hill.  The 
country  is  in  full  view  for  miles  around,  and  the 


THE  ETTLETON  CEMETERY.  1 57 

hio-h  hills  were  dark  with  the  brown  heather  in 
the  clear  light  of  that  spring  day. 

In  the  centre  of  the  yard,  upon  a  tall  marble 
shaft,  is  this  inscription : 

"In  this  spot,  near  which  rest  the  ashes  of  his 
forefathers,  is  interred  William  Armstrong,  of 
Sorbytrees,  who,  to  the  great  grief  of  the  neigh- 
borhood, was  shot  without  challenge  or  warning 
by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Smith,  incumbent  of  Walton, 
Cumberland,  on  the  night  of  Wednesday,  the  six- 
teenth day  of  April,  1 851,  in  the  thirty-eighth 
year  of  his  age." 

The  minister  was  slightly  deranged,  and  died 
soon  after  his  acquittal. 

Here  are  buried  Thomas  Armstrong,  born  as 
early  as  1689;  also  James,  born  1705,  and  Arch- 
ibald, born  1692,  besides  Walter  and  others  of 
the  name. 

Leaving  the  cemetery  I  reached  Kershopfoot, 
three  miles  away,  and  took  tea  at  "  Kershop 
house,"  in  England,  with  William  Armstrong, 
Esq.,  and  his  interesting  wife,  who  are  the  hos- 
pitable proprietors.  He  is  a  laird,  or  large  land- 
owner, well  educated,  and  about  the  only  repre- 
sentative of  the  Armstrongs  in  this  locality. 

I  arrived  at  Langholm  in  the  evening,  which  is 
situated,  with  its  3,000  inhabitants,  among  the 
high  hills  or  mountains, — very  lovely  for  situation, 
— a  quiet  retreat  from  the  bustle  of  the  outside 
world.     The  streets  are  narrow,  and  some  of  them 


158  THE  HOLLOWS   TOWER. 

not  particularly  pleasant.  I  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  the  post-master,  who  showed  me  over 
their  public  library,  and  through  their  museum, 
which  contains  many  curious  border  relics,  among 
them  the  long,  ungainly  sword  of  the  border 
chief,  "Gilnockie"  Armstrong. 

I  went  by  rail  to  Gilnockie  station,  and  from 
thence  to  the  spot  where  his  castle  or  mansion 
stood,  which  was  pointed  out  on  the  east  bank  of 
the  Esk.  Three  hundred  and  fifty-six  years 
"have  joined  the  years  beyond  the  flood"  since 
the  grounds  were  trod  by  "Gilnockie"  Armstrong, 
and  which  the  border  chief  shall  see  "never 
again."  The  site  is  plainly  visible  at  the  right  of 
the  highway,  on  a  bold,  high  precipice  impending 
over  the  river.  There  is  the  mound  with  its 
rough  and  uneven  surface,  with  the  deep  depres- 
sions which  mark  the  basement,  and  the  ditches 
about  three  sides  of  his  fort.  The  latter  were 
filled  with  water  to  prevent  the  entrance  of  his 
foes,  while  from  the  rear  of  the  fort,  if  hard 
pressed,  he  could  escape  down  the  steep  embank- 
ment to  the  river.  The  spot  is  green  with  ferns, 
and  carpeted  with  clinging  mosses.  The  tall 
trees,  in  which  the  birds  were  singing  merrily, 
furnished  abundant  shade,  while  the  flowing,  mur- 
muring waters  of  the  river  Esk  made  sweetest 
music. 

In  plain  view,  but  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river,  in  an    open    field,  is    the    Hollows    tower. 


VARIOUS  HOMES  OF  CLAN  ARMSTRONG. 


159 


Its  walls  of  stone  are  solid  and  substantial,  and  of 
considerable  thickness.  It  was  erected  previous 
to    J  525,  and   stone 


steps     lead 
summit. 


to    its 
Here 


Johnnie  Armstrong, 
the  redoubtable 
chief  of  the  Scottish 
border,  gathered 
wild  and  adventur- 
ous spirits  about 
him,  living  in  sump- 
tuous state,  and 
ready    at   all    times  hollows  Tower. 

for  a  raid  into  England,  or  against  a  hostile  clan, 
to  rescue  friends  or  to  punish  enemies.  To  show 
"the  irony  of  fate,"  the  castle  is  no  longer  used 
for  human  habitation,  but  on  the  cold,  wet 
ground,  by  actual  count,  were  forty  steel  traps, 
and  within  ten  feet  was  a  pen  in  which  several 
dogs  were  confined. 

This  clan  had  many  places  of  strength  in  these 
parts,  such  as  Sark,  Kinmont,  Hollgreen,  Hollis, 
Mumbyhirst,  the  castle  of  Harelaw,  Irving  castle 
near  Langholm,  Whitehaugh,  Mangerton,  Pud- 
dington,  Hilles,  and  others;  yet  Gilnockie  hall, 
or  the  home  at  the  Hollows  just  described,  was 
the  strongest  of  all. 

It  may  be  stated  here  that  the  clan  Armstrong 
in  its  palmiest  days,  in  1528,  with  its  adherents, 


l60  STRENGTH  OF  THE   CLAN. 

numbered  upwards  of  3,000  horsemen.  The  dis- 
ruption of  the  clan  was  in  1530.  In  1537,  300 
of  them  were  under  Enghsh  protection;  and 
later,  630  of  them  and  their  retainers  are  men- 
tioned as  having  been  similarly  situated.  It  has 
been  supposed  that  the  latter  figure  very  nearly 
represented  the  numerical  strength  of  the  Arm- 
strongs after  the  breaking  up  of  the  confederation 
in  1530. 

As  has  been  stated,  Johnnie  Armstrong,  called 
"  Gilnockie,"  was  the  greatest  chief  of  the  clan, 
and  a  further  notice  may  not  be  inappropriate. 
He  had  three  brothers,  Thomas  the  Larde  of 
Mangerton,  Alexander,  and  George.  "  Gilnockie  " 
kept  twenty-four  well  horsed  and  able  men  about 
him  continually,  and  though  he  harassed  the  Eng- 
lish counties  as  far  as  Newcastle,  and  laid  them 
under  tribute,  yet  he  molested  not  his  own  coun- 
trymen. 

King  James,  having  heard  great  complaints  of 
outrages  upon  the  border,  went  south  with  a 
large  army,  determined  to  extirpate  the  marau- 
ders. He  encamped  at  the  head  of  the  river 
Ewes,  at  a  place  now  called  Cant,  or  Camp 
Knowes.  To  him  there  "Gilnockie"  with  forty- 
eight  of  his  friends  repaired,  hoping  for  the  king's 
clemency.  They  were  treacherously  ensnared,  and 
brought  before  the  king.  He  came,  clad  with  all 
the  pomp  and  magnificence  of  the  first  prince  of 
Europe.     His    proffers   of  service  and  aid   were 


DEATH  OF  THE  BORDER   CHIEF.  l6l 

Sternly  rejected.  Seeing  that  he  was  entrapped 
and  that  his  Hfe  was  to  be  forfeited,  he  exclaimed 
proudly  to  the  king  (putting  his  language  into 
modern  English)  :  "I  am  but  a  fool  to  seek  grace 
at  your  graceless  hands.  But  had  I  known,  sir, 
that  you  would  have  taken  my  life  this  day, 
I  would  have  lived  upon  the  borders  in  despite 
of  King  Harrie  and  you  both,  for  I  know  King 
Harrie  would  weigh  down  my  best  horse  with 
gold  to  know  that  I  was  condemned  to  die  this 
day." 

So  he  and  thirty-five  of  his  men  were  carried 
to  Carlenrig,  and  to  the  branches  of  trees  were 
hanged,  and  buried  in  the  church-yard.  Till  a 
recent  period  their  graves  could  be  pointed  out. 

He  was  the  Robin  Hood  of  the  border ;  and 
after  the  grasses  have  for  three  hundred  and  fifty- 
six  years  grown  above  him,  and  waved  in  the 
summer  breezes,  his  name  is  still  held  in  great 
respect  by  the  peasantry  of  the  locality.  They 
assert  that  the  trees  upon  which  he  and  his  fol- 
lowers were  hanged  withered  away,  as  a  token  of 
the  injustice  of  the  deed. 

"  Where  rising  Teviot  joins  the  frosty-lee, 

Stands  the  huge  trunk  of  many  a  leafless  tree ; 
No  verdant  woodbine  wreaths  their  age  adorn ; 
Bare  are  the  boughs,  the  gnarled  roots  uptorn  ; 
Here  shone  no  sunbeam,  fell  no  summer  dew. 
Nor  ever  grass  beneath  the  branches  grew, 
Since  that  bold  chief  who  Henry's  power  defied. 
True  to  his  country,  as  a  traitor  died. 
Yon  mouldering  cairns,  by  ancient  hunters  ])laced 
Where  blends  the  meadow  with  the  marshy  waste, 

8 


1 62  FAME   OF  THE  BORDER   CHIEF. 

Mark  where  the  gallant  warriors  lie ;  but  long 
Their  fame  shall  flourish  in  the  Scotian  song, — 
The  Scotian  song,  whose  deep   impulsive  tones 
Each  thrilling  fibre,  true  to  passion,  owns. 
When,  soft  as  gales  o'er  summer  seas  that  blow. 
The  plaintive  music  warbles  love-lorn  woe. 
Or,  wild  and  loud,  the  fierce  exulting  strain 
Swells  its  bold  notes,  triumphant  o'er  the  slain." 

After  leaving  the  Hollows  tower  of  Gllnockie 
Armstrong,  the  church-yard  at  Cannobie  was  in- 
spected, where  many  of  this  clan  are  buried,  and 
there  the  most  ancient  memorial  stones  were 
found,  with  the  following  inscriptions : 

Here  lies  Francis  Armstrong  in  Fairlowes,  who 
died  Oct.  y''  9*,  1735,  aged  sixty-three  years,  being 
born  in  1672. 

Here  lies  Francis  Armstrong  who  died  in  the  water 
on  the  Lord's  day,  November  i,  1696,  as  he  went 
from  Kirk  after  sermon  ;  aged  twenty  years. 

There  were  also  buried  Thomas,  George,  Will- 
|>  if  »;jijj  .rrax  I  iam,  and  Robert  Armstrong,  with 
L^^i^fe^M   many   others  01   their  race.       ihe 
I   arms  were  carved  on  some  of  the 
stones.     The  crest — a  hand  with  a 
dagger.      The  following  describes 
the  early  arms  of  some  of  the  clan 
armstr^g  Arms.    Armstrong,  which,  with  variations, 
were  borne  by  various  branches  of  the  family: 

Anns.  An  arm  ppr.  habited  gu.  issuing  out  from 
the  side  of  the  escutcheon,  and  holding  the  lower  part 
of  a  broken  tree  eradicated,  vert,  the  top  leading  to 
the  dexter  angle. 


BEAUTIFUL   CANNOBIE. 


163 


The  scenery  in  and  around  Cannobie  is  of  rare 
beauty.  The  roads,  the  tall  trees,  the  jubilant 
waters  of  the  river  Esk,  the  shadowing  moun- 
tains, and  the  grassy,  rich  vales,  together  with 
its  historic  associations  and  the  sweetness  of  its 


n 


itojiiffliilltoJiai  ^ 


-—r^1^^'<^,^^^^^^^ 


Cannobie. 

name,  render  it  of  peculiar  interest  to  the  anti- 
quarian tourist.  Scott  has  made  it  famous  by  the 
line  in  "Marmion,"  under  title  of  "  Lochinvar," — 

"And  there  was  racing  and  chasing  on  Cannobie  lee." 

At  Stubholm,  near  Langholm,  was  born  the 
great  wit  of  the  clan,  Archie  Armstrong.  Having 
stolen  a  sheep,  he  was  so  closely  followed  by  the 
enraged  shepherd  that  he  had  only  time  to  reach 
his  home,  and  deposit  the  carcass  of  the  sheep  in 
the  cradle,  when  the  shepherd  entered  and  accused 


1 64  THE   GREAT  WIT. 

him  of  the  theft ;  but  Archie  assumed  an  air  of 
innocence,  and,  in  the  character  of  nurse,  dehber- 
ately  entailed  upon  himself  the  curse  contained  in 
these  lines, — 

"  If  e'er  I  did  sae  fause  a  feat 
As  thin  my  niebour's  faulds, 
May  I  be  doom'd  tlie  flesh  to  eat 
This  vera  cradle  haulds." 

He  subsequently  became  jester  to  His  Majesty 
Charles  I,  but  was  dismissed  in  disgrace  for  the 
poignancy  of  his  wit  and  keen  satire,  his  subjects 
being  members  of  the  nobility. 

Though  this  clan  was  in  great  strength  upon 
the  border  several  centuries  ago,  yet  numerous 
branches  or  colonies,  springing  from  the  parent 
stock,  located  at  an  early  date  in  the  northern 
counties  of  England.  One  settled  at  Corby,  Lin- 
colnshire, another  at  Thorpe,  Nottinghamshire, 
and  another  in  Yorkshire.  The  race  is  not  numer- 
ous in  the  locality  in  which  it  originated,  yet  many 
members  of  it  are  found  in  England,  great  num- 
bers in  Ireland,  and  not  a  few  in  the  United  States 
and  the  British  Provinces.  It  is  safe  to  assert 
that  every  person  of  the  name  of  Armstrong  who 
rightfully  bears  that  name,  is  descended  from  the 
powerful  clan  on  the  border  in  the  "Debatable 
Country." 

Soon  after  the  death  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  in 
1603,  William  Armstrong,  of  the  Mangerton 
branch,  settled  in  the  county  of  Fermanaugh, 
Ireland.     Afterward,   his    nephew,  Andrew  Arm- 


THE  ARMSTRONGS  OF  IRELAND.  1 65 

Strong,  joined  him,  and  they  were  the  founders 
of  a  numerous  and  prominent  race.  The  Arm- 
strongs of  Ballycumber,  County  Clare,  are  from  the 
Mangerton  family.  The  Armstrongs  of  Gallen, 
Kings  county,  as  well  as  those  of  Garry  castle 
and  of  Castle  Iver,  Kings  county,  are  descended 
from  "Gilnockie"  Armstrong.  Major  A.  Arm- 
strong, at  whose  pleasant  home,  "  Gilnockie," 
Westcombe  Park,  Blackheath,  S.  E.  London,  re- 
side his  mother  and  sisters,  is  of  the  "Gilnockie" 
branch  of  the  family. 

Among  the  many  estimable  members  of  the 
race  in  Ireland  must  not  be  omitted  Thomas  Arm- 
strong, J.  P.,  of  Portadown,  county  of  Armagh, 
a  solid  business  man,  whose  grandfather  used 
annually  to  make  a  pilgrimage  to  the  old  home  of 
his  ancestors  upon  the  Scottish  border. 

Then  there  is  William  E.  Armstrong,  Esq., 
solicitor,  whose  fluent  and  nimble  tongue  has  won 
many  cases  in  court,  as  well  as  entertained  his 
guests,  with  the  aid  of  his  agreeable  family,  at  his 
attractive  home  at  No.  12  Clifton  street,  off  An- 
trim Road,  Belfast.  Ireland. 

Among  other  descendants  of  the  early  emigrants 
to  Ireland,  from  the  border,  are  the  Armstrongs 
of  county  Sligo  and  town  of  Sligo,  on  the  west 
coast  of  Ireland,  who  have  been  residents  there 
since  1650,  at  least.  This  family  is  represented 
by  the  Rev.  James  Armstrong,  an  Episcopal  cler- 
gyman of  pleasing  address  and  winning  manners. 


1 66  SCOTCH  PRIMROSES. 

From  his  cheerful  manse  at  Castle  Rock,  county  of 
Londonderry,  a  romantic  and  enchanting  place, 
one  can  look  forth  upon  the  heaving  waters  of  the 
broad  Atlantic,  and  in  the  whirlwind  of  the  storm 
and  tempest  can  hear  its  wildest  music,  as  the 
angry  waves  lash  themselves  against  the  precipi- 
tous cliffs.  I  have  sketched,  in  a  general  way,  the 
history  of  the  clan  to  its  disruption  in  1530,  of  its 
collateral  branches  which  settled  in  Ireland  and 
in  England,  and  mentioned  a  few  of  its  living 
members  in  the  three  king-doms  whom  I  visited. 
Among  the  many  prominent  men  of  the  name  on 
this  side  of  the  blue  sea  may  be  mentioned 
George  W.  Armstrong,  Esq.,  of  Brookline,  Mass., 
and  President  Armstrong,  of  the  Hampton  Insti- 
tute, Va. 

The  night  was  spent  at  the  Commercial  hotel, 
John  Scott,  proprietor.  The  following  morning 
he  carried  me  with  "his  machine"  over  a  road 
hard  and  smooth  to  the  "  Hermitage,"  a  renowned 
and  ruined  castle  six  miles  away.  The  morning 
was  bright  and  beautiful,  the  air  was  invigorating, 
and  our  route  lay  through  woods  where  were 
golden  pheasants  and  other  birds,  and  protected 
game  of  the  duke.  Much  of  the  way  was  bright 
with  flowers,  and  the  multitude  of  Scotch  prim- 
roses, laden  with  dew,  which  glistened  in  the  morn- 
ing brightness,  added  joy  to  the  way.  On  the  route 
we  visited  an  old  cemetery,  where  were  the  familiar 
names  of  Jackson,  Elliot,  Waugh,  Scott,  etc. 


VISIT  TO  HERMITAGE   CASTLE.  1 6/ 

Before  reaching-  the  "  Hermitao;e  "  we  halted  at 
the  house  of  the  gamekeeper  at  Newlands,  and 
procured  the  key.  The  castle,  built  in  1244,  stands 
on  a  sHght  elevation,  near  the  highway.  It  is  in 
fair  preservation.  The  stone  walls  are  still  stand- 
ing, and  also  a  portion  of  the  roof  of  arched  stone. 
It  is  entered  by  a  thick,  heavy  wooden  door.  I 
unlocked  the  heavy  door,  which  swung  upon  its 
hinges  and  admitted  me  to  an  open  space  of 
ground,  wet  and  forbidding.  A  hole  eighteen 
inches  square  is  the  entrance  to  a  dungeon  twelve 
feet  deep,  in  which  it  is  said  Sir  Alexander  Ram- 
say was  starved  to  death  by  order  of  Sir  William 
Douglass,  owner  of  the  castle,  who  had  taken  him 
prisoner.  The  entire  surface  floor  of  the  castle  is 
covered  with  debris,  and  is  unpleasant  and  gloomy. 
The  surrounding  grounds  show  plainly  the  site  of 
the  ancient  deep  trenches,  which  were  filled  with 
water,  and  rendered  the  approach  of  an  enemy 
very  difficult. 

The  "Hermitage"  once  belonged  to  the  Lords* 
Soulis.  In  1320  William  de  Soulis  conspired 
against  King  Robert  Bruce,  and  this  revolt  ruined 
his  family.  He  was  cruel  and  vindictive,  harassed 
his  neighbors,  and  treated  his  vassals  with  great 
cruelty.  Bruce  had  been  much  annoyed  by  com- 
plaints of  de  Soulis,  and  once,  when  his  vassals 
came  to  him  for  a  redress  of  grievances,  exclaimed, 
"Boil  him,  if  you  please,  but  let  me  hear  no  more 
of  him."     This  order  is  said  to  have  been  literally 


1 68  THE   HEART  OF  BRUCE. 

executed,  at  a  declivity  on  Hermitage  Water,  not 
far  away,  at  a  place  called  the  Nine-Stane-Rig. 
This  place  was  pointed  out  to  me,  and  derives  its 
name  from  a  druidical  circle  of  stones,  only  five  of 
which  are  now  standing.  This  castle  was  later 
the  abode  of  the  Douglasses,  Lords  of  Liddesdale. 

Douglass  is  the  name  of  a  very  ancient,  very 
powerful,  and  numerous  family  in  Scotland,  once 
the  rival  of  royalty.  The  first  of  the  name  in  his- 
tory is  William  of  Dufglas,  between  1175  and 
1 199.  The  family  seat  was  at  Douglass,  on  the 
river  of  that  name,  in  the  south-westerly  section  of 
the  county  of  Lanark.  There  lived  the  "  Good 
Sir  James  Douglass,"  the  companion  of  King 
Robert  Bruce,  and  who  perished  fighting  the 
Moors  in  Spain,  as  he  was  on  the  mission  of  bear- 
ing the  heart  of  Bruce  to  the  holy  sepulchre  at 
Jerusalem.  Taking  from  his  neck  the  silver  cas- 
ket containing  the  embalmed  heart  of  Bruce,  he 
threw  it  into  the  ranks  of  the  enemy  and  said, 
"  Now  pass  thou  onward  before  us,  gallant  heart, 
as  thou  wert  wont:  Douglass  will  follow  thee,  or 
die."  He  and  the  most  of  his  followers  perished 
in  the  charge,  but  his  body  was  recovered,  with 
the  casket.  Both  were  returned  to  Scotland,  when 
the  heart  of  Bruce  was  buried  at  Melrose  abbey. 

His  son,  Sir  William  Douglass,  was  the  owner 
and  occupant  of  Hermitage  castle,  and  was  styled 
the  Knight  of  Liddesdale.  He  it  was  who  from 
envy,  because   Sir  Alexander   Ramsay  had  been 


HOMES  OF   THE  DOUGLASSES.  1 69 

more  successful  than  himself  in  the  capture  of 
Roxburgh  castle  from  the  English,  March  20, 
1342,  and  in  consequence  had  supplanted  him  as 
sheriff  of  Teviotdale,  went  with  an  armed  force,  on 
the  20th  of  June,  1342,  seized  Ramsay  at  a  church 
in  Hawick  where  he  was  holding  court,  took 
him  to  Hermitage  castle,  and  starved  him  to  death 
in  the  dungeon  previously  described,  protract- 
ing his  wretched  existence  for  seventeen  days. 
Though  pardoned  by  his  king,  he  was,  in  August, 
1353,  killed,  while  hunting  in  Ettrick  forest,  by 
his  cousin.  Sir  William  Douglass,  in  revenge  for 
the  death  of  Ramsay. 

At  Kershopfoot  I  saw  a  beautiful  herd  of  horn- 
less black  cattle,  which  were  of  good  size,  a  third 
laro-er  than  the  small-horned  black  cattle  of  the 
county  of  Kerry,  Ireland.  Another  variety  are 
the  polled  cattle,  of  lightish  brown  color.  In  the 
Highlands  are  the  Highland  cattle,  very  hand- 
some, with  hair  so  long  and  thick  that  they  go 
shelterless  in  the  winter  without  detriment. 

Taking  a  pedestrian  tour  of  some  miles  through 
this  section,  I  was  surprised  at  the  absence  of 
farm-houses  or  human  habitations.  My  eyes 
swept  great  tracts  of  country  with  only  here  and 
there  a  tenement.  Some  of  the  farm-houses 
seemed  in  fair  condition,  but  the  people  live  in 
villages,  and  the  small  houses  of  the  tenants  clus- 
ter near  each  other  on  the  land  of  the  Laird  whose 
domains  they  till. 


I/O        DINNER  AT  A   THATCH-ROOFED  COTTAGE. 

When  at  Cannobie,  the  brightness  of  an  early 
morning  gave  place  to  clouds,  and  heavily  the 
rain  fell  as  with  valise  and  umbrella  I  walked  over 
a  strange  road  in  a  strange  land  to  reach  the  sta- 
tion. The  train  not  being  due  for  some  time, 
and  as  there  was  no  hotel  there,  and  having  had 
no  refreshments,  I  went  to  spy  out  the  wealth  or 
"  nakedness  of  the  land,"  and  came  to  a  low, 
thatch-roofed  cottage,  and  was  ushered  in.  The 
flagstone  floor  was  of  scrupulous  neatness,  and 
everything  in  that  humble  abode  was  tidy  and 
well  kept.  Provisions  and  eatables  were  not  in 
closets  or  refrigerators,  but  in  large  chests.  I 
soon  regaled  myself  on  Scotch  scones  and  milk, 
as  nice  as  one  would  find  in  the  best  restaurant. 

The  name  of  the  family  was  Little,  and  they 
were  representatives  of  the  numerous  clan  of  that 
name  who  occupied  anciently  the  lower  part  of 
Upper  Eskdale  and  a  portion  of  Ewesdale  in  or 
near  this  immediate  locality. 

I  was  soon  across  the  border  at  Longtown,  in 
England,  near  the  head  of  Solway  Firth.  This 
was  my  farthest  point  south,  and  I  now  bade 
adieu  to  the  Debatable  Country,  and  started  for 
the  far  north,  touching  the  eastern  coast  of  Scot- 
land, passing  through  the  Highlands  to  the  west 
coast  at  Oban,  and  then  went  by  steamer  to  the 
wind-swept  Hebrides  and  the  island  of  Lewis. 


'#1 


CHAPTER   VII. 

"  From  the  dim  shieling  on  the  misty  island 
Mountains  divide  me,  and  a  world  of  seas ; 
Yet  still  my  heart  is  true,  my  heart  is  Highland, 
And  I  in  dreams  behold  the  Hebrides." 

SHORT  journey  of  three  miles  brought  me 
to  Gretna  Junction,  that  Gretna  so  famous 
in  the  long  ago  for  its  runaway  marriages.  There 
were  no  conveyances,  and  so  I  started  for  the 
station  in  the  falling  rain.  I  was  never  a  success- 
ful pedestrian,  for  it  was  always  against  my  prin- 
ciples to  exercise  myself  in  that  manner  when 
it  could  be  avoided  by  riding  or  driving.  After 
proceeding  a  half  mile  my  eyes  were  gladdened 
by  an  approaching  team,  which  proved  to  be  a 
young  man  with  a  load  of  bread,  who  was  going 
to  Gretna,  Yankee  like,  only  a  minute  passed 
before  a  trade  was  made  by  which  he  took  me 
along  as  part  of  his  cargo.  His  bread-cart  was 
not  like  one  in  New  England,  a  nice  four-wheeled 
carriage  with  an  elegant  covered  top,  but  it  was 
a  heavy,  lumbering,  two-wheeled  cart,  after  the 
approved  British  fashion.  The  bread  filled  the 
body  of  the  cart,  and  over  it  was  thrown  heavy 
sail-cloth  for  covering.     It  was  so  loaded  that  the 


172  THE   WAY  I  REACHED   GRETNA. 

driver's  weight  upon  the  front  corner  maintained 
the  proper  balance  upon  the  axle-tree,  so  that 
his  horse  could  travel  comfortably.  If  I  joined 
him,  the  additional  weight  would  press  too  heavily 
upon  the  horse.  So  we  adjusted  matters  by  my 
taking  his  place  and  acting  as  driver,  and  he 
locating  himself  upon  the  rear  corner  of  the  cart, 
to  maintain  a  proper  equilibrium  of  the  vehicle; 
and  in  this  original  and  laughable  manner  we 
reached  Gretna. 

The  cheerful  rumble  of  the  train  was  soon 
heard,  and  Edinburgh  was  my  objective  point. 
We  passed  through  an  excellent  agricultural  dis- 
trict. The  rain  fell  in  torrents.  The  air  was 
chilly,  and  all  along  the  route,  in  open  fields  and 
on  the  sloping  hillsides,  great  numbers  of  sheep, 
with  their  young  and  tender  lambs,  were  seen, 
unprotected  from  the  pelting  storm, 

Lockerby  was  reached,  and  we  were  in  what 
was  once  the  county  of  the  brave  and  powerful 
border  family  of  Johnston  or  Johnstone.  The 
first  whom  history  records  as  possessing  a  bar- 
onetcy was  Sir  John  de  Johnstone,  who  swore 
fealty  to  Edward  I  of  England  in  1296.  The 
home  of  the  Johnstones  was  at  Westerhall  in  this 
county  of  Dumfries.  We  were  in  the  district  of 
Annandale,  where  in  the  upper  portions  the  John- 
stons from  time  immemorial  have  possessed  most 
extensive  estates.  Still  going  north,  a  few  miles 
from  Lockerby  the  town  or  parish  of  Johnston  is 


THE   CLAN  JOHNSTON.  1 73 

reached.  In  the  castle  of  Lockwood,  in  this  place, 
lived  for  generations  the  head  or  chief's  family  of 
one  of  the  branches  of  this  numerous  clan.  The 
castle  was  built  in  the  14th  century,  and  was  a 
place  of  great  strength,  but  was  burned  by  the 
Maxwells  in  1593.  The  Johnstons  were  numer- 
ous, and  participated  in  all  the  exciting  scenes  of 
border  and  clannish  warfare. 

After  a  four-hours  ride  from  Gretna  Junction, 
through  a  section  rich  in  history  and  beautiful  in 
scenery,  and  passing  through  Moffatt,  Symington, 
and  other  interesting  towns,  we  entered  the  finely 
situated  city  of  Peebles,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Tweed,  and  secluded  among  the  Scottish  hills. 
It  is  a  place  of  quiet  beauty,  and  the  tourist  can 
take  many  pleasant  rambles  in  its  vicinity.  In 
the  days  of  warfare  between  England  and  Scot- 
land there  was  a  line  of  fortresses  in  the  valley 
of  the  Tweed,  above  and  below  Peebles,  which 
existed  as  a  means  of  defence  against  the  Eng- 
lish marauders.  One  of  the  most  impregnable, 
and  which  is  in  excellent  preservation,  is  Neid- 
path  castle. 

"  The  noble  Nid-Path  Peebles  overlooks. 
With  its  fair  bridge,  and  Tweed's  meandering  brooks. 
Upon  a  rock  it  proud  and  stately  stands, 
And  to  the  fields  above  gives  forth  commands." 

As  stated  in  the  poem,  it  stands  on  a  projecting 
rock  on  the  north  bank  of  the  river,  and  is  a  mile 
west  of  the  town.    The  Tweed  runs  rapidly  through 


174  NEIDPATH  CASTLE. 

a  narrow  defile,  while  on  the  opposite  side  from  the 
castle  the  hills  rise  to  a  oreat  heio^ht,  covered 
heavily  with  wood.  Through  this  narrow  glen 
the  wind  sweeps  with  tremendous  force.  This 
was  the  home  of  the  head  of  one  branch  of  the 
Douglasses.  A  family  now  lives  in  the  castle, 
and  an  attendant  answers  the  calls  of  visitors,  and 
shows  them  all  parts  of  the  historic  place.  The 
walls  are  of  immense  thickness.  From  the  giddy 
height  of  the  summit  is  a  view  of  romantic  inter- 
est. Far  beneath  are  the  rushing  waters  of  the 
Tweed.  Around  are  the  high,  wooded  hills,  and 
in  another  direction  are  the  city  of  Peebles  and 
the  country  beyond. 

At  Peebles  I  had  the  pleasure  of  making  the 
acquaintance  of  Mr.  Henry  Armour,  of  Edinburgh, 
an  accomplished  gentleman  previously  mentioned. 
He  was  perfectly  familiar  with  this  locality,  and 
very  kindly  accompanied  me  to  Roslin  chapel  and 
Hawthornden.  A  narrow  defile  of  great  beauty 
connects  these  places.  The  ruins  of  Roslin  castle 
are  upon  a  great  ledge  of  rock  overhanging  the 
beautiful  valley  of  the  river  Esk.  It  is  reached 
by  a  high  bridge. 

This  was  for  a  long  period  the  home  of  the  Sin- 
clair or  St.  Clair  family.  Sinclair,  a  surname  of 
Norman  origin,  was  first  borne  in  Great  Britain 
by  Walderne,  Count  de  Santo  Claro,  who  came 
over  with  William  the  Conqueror.  His  son,  Will- 
iam de  Sancto  Claro,  settled  in  Scotland  in  the 


HOME   OF  THE  ST.  CLAIR  FAMILY.  1/5 

reign  of  David  I,  between  1124  and  1153,  and 
from  him  received  the  grant  of  the  barony  of  Ros- 
lin,  Mid  Lothian.  On  account  of  his  fair  and  cor- 
rect manner  of  hfe  he  was  called  the  seemly  St. 
Clair. 

All  portions  of  the  castle  were  visible,  some 
parts  being  in  a  ruined  condition,  and  others  in 
fair  preservation.  From  some  dark  apartments, 
through  narrow  apertures  in  the  wall,  one  could 
look  out  upon  the  charming  scenery  in  the  valley 
beneath.  The  garrulous  old  guide  pointed  out 
the  kitchen  of  the  castle.  The  menu,  and  the 
accommodations  for  preparing  it,  could  not  com- 
pare with  those  of  modern  establishments. 

Roslin  chapel,  situated  upon  a  higher  elevation, 
is  only  a  short  distance  from  the  castle  ;  the 
admission  fee  is  one  shilling.  It  was  founded  by 
William  St.  Clair,  3d  Earl  of  Orkney,  and  Lord 
Roslin,  in  1446.  It  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
specimens  of  Gothic  architecture  in  Scotland. 
The  carvings  on  roof  and  pillar  are  simply  won- 
derful. The  barons  of  Roslin,  clad  in  armor,  lie 
buried  beneath  the  pavement  of  the  chapel,  as 
Scott  has  written  in  "The  Lay  of  the  Last  Min- 
strel." It  was  a  superstition  that  the  chapel  ap- 
peared in  flames  on  the  night  before  the  death  of 
one  of  its  lordly  owners. 

"  Seemed  all  on  fire  that  chapel  proud, 
Where  Roslin's  chiefs  uncoffined  lie, 
Each  baron  for  a  sable  shroud, 
Sheathed  in  his  iron  panoply. 

*  *  *  *     •  * 


176  ROSLIN  CHAPEL  AND  HAWTHORNDEN. 

"  There  are  twenty  of  Roslin's  barons  bold, 
Lie  buried  within  that  proud  chapelle, 
Each  one  the  holy  vault  doth  hold, 
But  the  sea  holds  lovely  Rosabelle  1 

"And  each  St.  Clair  was  buried  there, 

With  candle,  with  book,  and  with  knell. 
But  the  sea-caves  rung  and  the  wild  winds  sung. 
The  dirge  of  lovely  Rosabelle." 

Leaving  these  interesting  scenes,  we  enter  the 
vale  of  Hawthornden,  and  how  shall  its  romantic 
loveliness  be  described  ?  There  are  the  murmur- 
ing Esk,  the  steep,  rugged  cliffs,  the  tall  trees 
with  their  thick  foliage  through  which  the  rays  of 
the  sun  struggle  for  admittance.  All  is  lovely 
for  several  miles.  We  reached  Lasswade,  where 
we  were  hospitably  entertained  at  the  home  of  an 
intimate  friend  of  my  companion's.  Lasswade 
derives  its  name  from  an  old  custom  before  the 
erection  of  bridges  for  the  lasses  to  wade  across 
the  river  bearing  passengers  on  their  backs. 
There  Walter  Scott  passed  some  happy  years. 
On  the  way  to  Edinburgh  v/e  saw  the  ruined  cas- 
tle of  Craigmillar,  a  favorite  residence  of  Queen 
Mary. 

A  few  miles  north-east  of  Edinburgh  is  the  early 
home  of  the  family  of  Pinkerton.  The  lands  of 
Pinkerton,  in  the  parish  of  Crail,  and  in  the  coun- 
ly  of  Fife,  gave  the  name  to  the  family.  Twenty- 
nine  miles  south-east  of  Edinburgh^  in  the  county 
of  Haddington,  is  the  village  of  Pinkerton,  near 
Dunbar.     From    these    ancient   family  seats    the 


THE  PINKERTOiXS  AND  STARKS.  I// 

Pinkertons   have   branched    out,   and    are  widely 
scattered. 

Stark  or  Starke  is  a  Scottish  surname,  mean- 
ing strong,  and  was  first  borne  by  a  person  by 
name  of  Muirhead,  for  his  having  rescued  King 
James  IV  from  a  bull  in  the  forest  of  Cumbernauld. 
For  his  strength  he  was  called  Stark.  (Nisbit's 
Heraldry,  vol.  i,  p.  340.)  This  was  between  the 
years  1488  and  15 13.  In  the  county  of  Fife  were 
the  Starks  of  Kingdale  and  the  Starks  of  Teasses. 
A  few  miles  west,  in  the  county  of  Kinross,  were 
the  Starks  of  Bridgeland.  The  name  is  still  a 
familiar  one  in  Scotland. 

These  names  have  been  honorably  borne  in 
New  Hampshire  by  representatives  of  this  same 
Scotch  race,  who  first  emigrated  from  Scotland  to 
the  north  of  Ireland,  and  then  to  New  Hampshire. 
The  Pinkertons  have  been  honored  founders  and 
sustainers  of  public  institutions  of  learning,  and 
Gen.  John  Stark  was  a  distinguished  leader  in  the 
Revolutionary  war,  and  won  victory  at  the  battle 
of  Bennington. 

Making  a  brief  halt  in  Edinburgh,  I  left  the  city 
for  Stirling,  which  was  reached  in  two  hours,  and 
was  courteously  received  by  J.  Grant  McLean, 
Esq.,  to  whom  I  bore  a  letter  of  introduction. 
He  showed  me  over  the  most  celebrated  places 
in  the  city. 

Stirling  castle  is  renowned  in  Scottish  history. 
It  stands  on  the  brow  of  a  precipitous  rock,  on  a 


178 


STIRLING   CASTLE. 


high  elevation,  and  rivals  the  lordly  Castle  of  Edin- 
burgh. It  has  existed  for  at  least  eight  hundred 
years,  has  been  the  scene  of  warlike  exploits,  and 
some  of  the   most   important  events   in  Scottish 

^istory    have 


taken  place 
within  its 
walls,  or  in  its 
immediate  vi- 
cinity. From 
the  lofty  bat- 
tlements the 
view  is  beautiful  beyond  expression.  From  a  cer- 
tain corner  in  the  wall,  far  beneath  the  Vale  of 
Monteith  is  spread  out  before  one's  vision,  level 
as  a  floor,  rich  as  a  garden,  while  in  the  distance 
the  peaks  of  Ben  Lomond,  Ben  Venue,  and  Ben 
Ledi  meet  the  embracing  sky,  and  bound  the 
view.  In  the  north  are  the  Orchill  hills,  while 
through  the  fertile  plain  is  the  sinuous  path 
of  the  river  Forth,  which,  glistening  in  the  sun- 
light, looks  like  a  belt  of  molten  silver.  The  same 
glance  of  the  eye  will  embrace  the  ruins  of  Cam- 
buskenneth  abbey  on  the  plain,  while  far  above 
is  the  Abbey  Craig,  surmounted  by  the  elegant 
monument  to  Sir  William  Wallace,  and  to  the 
westward  the  pleasant  homes  at  the  Bridge  of 
Allan.  The  Campsie  hills  are  lying  in  a  south- 
westerly direction.  From  another  portion  of  the 
wall  can  be  seen  the  flao;staft'  on  the  battlefield  of 


THE   GARDEN  OF  THE  KING.  179 

Bannockbiirn.     Looking  down  from  the  walls  to 
the  plain  beneath,  the  King's  garden  unfolds  itself, 
with  its  turf  embankment,   fresh  and  beautifully 
green,  with  streets  of  houses  of  the  laborers  upon 
the    land.     It  .was   in   the   latter  part  of  a  clear, 
bright  day  when  I  was  there,  and  the  sun  flooded 
the  land  with  light,  and  revealed  in  its  surpassing 
beauty  the  Vale  of  Monteith  wath   its    carpet   of 
green,  showed  the  graceful  windings  of  the  Forth, 
and  tinged  the  distant  mountain-peaks  with  glory. 
The  castle  is  of  great  interest.     The  carvings 
upon  the  exterior  are  horrible,  and  in  a  ruinous 
condition.     The   once    aristocratic    streets    which 
lead  to  it  are   narrow  and   unpleasant.     Edifices 
once   the   abode   of  the    nobility,   of  wealth   and 
culture,  are   now  the   homes  of  squalor,  poverty, 
and  wretchedness ;  and  windows  from  which,  cen- 
turies ago,  looked  forth  the  bright  eyes  of  the  wit- 
tiest and  fairest  of  Scotland's  dames  and  belles, 
look    forth    to-day  faces   besotted   by  drink    and 
degraded  by  crime. 

One  evening  I  took  a  tram-car  and  went  to  the 
vicinity  of  the  Wallace  monument.  The  old  Bridge 
of  Stirling  was  in  view.  Near  it  once  stood  an 
older  bridge,  over  which,  in  less  peaceful  days,  the 
English  troops  charged,  to  dislodge  the  Scotch 
forces  under  William  Wallace.  The  bridge  was 
narrow,  and  only  a  few  soldiers  could  cross  it  at  a 
time.  The  eye  of  the  Scotch  chieftain  was  upon 
them.     He  waited  till  the  enemy  were  half  across, 


l8o  ON   THE   BRIDGE   AT  STIRLING. 

when  he  and  his  eager  men  came  plunging  out  of 
a  .narrow  defile,  over  the  spot  where  I  was  stand- 
ing, across  the  open  field  at  my  right,  now  turned 
over  by  the  plow,  engaged  the  enemy,  and  drove 
them  from  the  field  with  fearful  loss.  That  occur- 
red September  13,  1297.  I  passed  over  the  bat- 
tlefield, much  of  which  is  under  cultivation,  and 
walked  back  to  Stirling  in  the  evening.  Halting 
upon  the  bridge,  I  glanced  across  the  historic 
ground.  Gazing  up  at  the  clear  skies,  the  cold 
and  pitiless  stars  shone  brightly,  twinkling  the 
same  as  they  did  587  years  before,  when  the 
Scotch  and  English  hosts  met  in  deadly  conflict. 
Looking  beneath  me,  the  dark,  rolling  waters  of 
the  Forth  reflected  the  brightness  of  the  heavenly 
torches  as  in  the  olden  time.  But  otherwise,  how 
changed  the  scene  !  No  marshalling  of  Scottish 
clans,  no  hosts  of  English  invaders,  no  deadly  on- 
set and  horrible  battle.  All  was  peaceful.  The 
lights  from  happy  homes  at  the  Bridge  of  Allan 
sent  out  their  cheering  gleams.  Looking  towards 
Stirling,  there  stood  the  mighty  castle,  with  its 
high  and  frowning  battlements,  as  it  had  stood  for 
centuries;  while  thousands  of  blazing  lights  from 
houses  and  streets  sent  their  brightness  over  the 
plain  below,  making  a  scene  beautiful  indeed  ! 

Three  miles  from  Stirling  is  the  battle-field  of 
Bannockburn.  I  took  the  train  at  8  a.  m.,  and  on 
arriving  at  the  station  found  myself  nearly  as  far 
from  the  battle-field  as  at  Stirling.    The  village  of 


THE  STANDARD    UNFURLED.  l8l 

Bannockburn  is  small,  untidy,  and  unpleasant, 
with  its  straggling  houses.  There  I  made  some 
inquiries  of  one  in  relation  to  the  battle,  which 
was  fought  June  24,  13 14.  Then,  with  becoming 
gravity,  I  asked  him  if  he  was  in  the  battle !  This 
was  too  much  for  even  the  gravity  of  a  Scotch- 
man. He  frankly  admitted  that  he  was  not,  but 
would  have  been  in  it  had  he  been  around  at  the 
time. 

The  battle-ground  was  reached.  There  is  little 
in  the  place  itself  of  particular  interest.  On  a 
slight  eminence,  called  Brock's  brae,  is  the  "  Bore 
stone"  where  King  Robert  Bruce,  on  that  battle- 
day,  unfurled  his  standard.  The  stone  is  now 
covered  by  an  iron  grating,  to  protect  it  from 
relic-hunters.  Near  it  is  erected  a  flag-staff,  which 
can  be  seen  for  many  miles.  While  standing  at 
the  "Bore  stone"  it  was  hard  to  realize  that  one 
of  the  most  important  battles  in  Scottish  history 
had  there  taken  place.  Everything  was  quiet, 
serene,  and  peaceful.  The  rain  had  been  succeed- 
ed by  sunshine,  the  birds  were  joyful,  and  the 
cattle  and  sheep  were  quietly  feeding  on  ground 
where  the  contending  armies  had  met. 

At  that  period  Bruce  was  struggling  to  relieve 
his  country  from  English  thraldom.  Stirling  casde 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  English,  under  Sir  Philip 
Mowbray,  and  being  besieged  by  Edward  Bruce, 
had  proposed  a  truce,  and  agreed  to  surrender 
unless  relieved  by  a  certain  day.     The  time  was 


1 82  BATTLE-FIELD    OF  BANNOCKBURN. 

about  to  expire,  and  King  Edward  hastened  for- 
ward with  a  powerful  army  of  100,000  men  for  his 
reHef.  To  prevent  this,  Bruce  collected  40,000 
men,  and  made  a  stand  at  this  spot.  The  right 
wing-  was  commanded  by  Edward  Bruce,  the  left 
wing  by  Douglass  and  Stuart,  and  the  centre  by 
Thomas  Randolph,  Earl  of  Mowbray;  while  Bruce 
himself  was  stationed  in  the  rear  with  his  reserve. 
In  front  of  the  reserve  was  the  "  Bore  stone,"  from 
which  was  displayed  the  royal  standard.  In  a 
valley  some  distance  in  the  rear,  and  hidden  by  a 
high  hill  known  as  Gillie's  hill,  was  Bruce's  bag- 
gage, with  some  15,000  camp-followers.  Bruce 
dug  deep  pits,  filled  them  with  upright,  sharpened 
stakes,  slightly  covered,  to  protect  himself  from 
the  English  cavalry,  and  awaited  the  approach  of 
the  foe. 

As  one  stands  at  the  "Bore  stone,"  nearly  in 
front,  but  in  plain  view,  though  in  the  distance,  is 
rising  ground,  where  the  English  army,  a  mighty 
host,  were  swiftly  advancing  with  "all  the  pomp 
and  circumstance  of  oflorious  war."  The  sun 
shone  brightly  on  their  burnished  armor.  They 
came  with  waving  plumes  and  floating  banners. 
The  vanguard  approached.  Bruce  rode  in  front 
of  his  advance  column,  w-hen  Henry  de  Bohun 
charged  upon  him  in  single  combat,  and  perished 
on  the  field.     The  reputed  spot  is  pointed  out. 

On  the  following  day,  after  a  terrible  contest, 
w'hen   the  English  lines  were  wavering  and   the 


S/X  BATTLE-FIELDS.  1 83 

destiny  of  Scotland  was  trembling  in  the  balance, 
at  that  supreme  moment  the  camp  followers  of 
Bruce  came  trooping  over  Gillie's  hill,  when,  the 
English  seeing  them,  and  supposing  they  were 
reinforcements,  fled  in  dismay,  and  Scotland  was 
redeemed. 

On  leaving  this  spot  I  walked  through  other 
pleasant  places  to  Stirling,  then  to  the  Bridge  of 
Allan.  The  latter  is  a  delightful  watering-place 
of  3,000  people,  with  a  large  hydropathic  estab- 
lishment, and  noted  mineral  waters.  My  pedes- 
trian tour  was  continued  to  Abbey  Craig,  on  which 
is  the  monument  to  Sir  William  Wallace.  The 
craig  rises  560  feet  above  the  level  of  the  plain, 
and  to  reach  the  top  one  goes  through  charming 
drives  and  walks,  lined  and  shaded  by  forest  trees 
planted  by  Nature's  bountiful  hand. 

The  monument,  in  the  form  of  a  baronial  tower, 
rises  to  a  height  of  220  feet;  it  is  on  the  highest 
part  of  the  hill.  At  the  top  the  wind  blew  like  a 
hurricane.  The  view  of  the  country  is  delightful, 
and  six  battle-fields  can  be  seen.  On  the  lands 
of  Cambuskenneth  abbey,  in  the  reign  of  Ken- 
neth II,  was  fought  a  batde  between  the  Picts  and 
Scots,  then  between  Sir  William  Wallace  and  the 
English,  under  the  Earl  of  Surry,  September  13, 
1297.  Bannockburn  was  fought  between  Robert 
Bruce  and  King  Edward  II,  June  24.  13 14,  and 
three  miles  south-west  the  batde  of  Sauchie  burn, 
where   King  James  III  of  Scodand  was  defeated 


1 84  CAMBUSKENNETH  ABBEY. 

by  his  barons  led  by  his  own  son,  and  was  mur- 
dered in  Beaton's  mill,  near  Milltown,  June  ii, 
1488,  and  buried  at  Cambuskenneth  abbey.  In 
the  north-west  is  Sherriff-muir,  where  the  Duke 
of  Argyle  with  the  royal  troops  fought  the  Earl 
of  Mar  in  November,  1715;  and  again,  in  1745, 
when  the  adherents  of  Prince  Charlie  drew  their 
cannon  to  the  top  of  the  craig,  hoping  to  be  able 
to  reduce  Stirling  castle. 

Passing  from  the  monument,  along  a  shady, 
descending  walk,  one  reaches  the  plain  below, 
and  enters  a  narrow  lane  which  leads  from  the 
highway  to  Cambuskenneth  abbey.  It  was  found- 
ed in  1 147,  and  is  now  in  ruins,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  tower  seventy  feet  in  height  which 
remains.  The  abbey  was  very  extensive,  but  the 
foundation  stones  became  completely  covered  till 
a  portion  was  unearthed  and  exposed  to  view 
a  few  years  since.  The  verdant  earth  had  cov- 
ered, from  a  foot  to  a  foot  and  a  half,  the  walls 
and  flat  stone  pavements.  In  1865  Queen  Victoria 
erected  a  monument  to  her  ancestors, — James  III, 
who  died  June  11,  1488,  and  his  queen,  Margaret 
of  Denmark.  There  the  early  parliaments  of 
Scotland  were  convened. 

Passing  through  the  litde  village  of  humble 
cottages,  I  reached  the  bank  of  the  Forth,  and 
was  ferried  across.  In  Stirling,  by  appointment, 
I  met  my  acquaintance,  Mr.  McLean,  who  intro- 
duced me  to  Mr.  Cook,  editor  and  antiquarian,  at 


THE  ABERCROMBIES.  185 

whose  house  we  had  a  dehghtful  call.  In  his 
library  were  many  costly  and  curious  works.  He 
very  kindly  presented  me  with  a  rare  work  of 
merit,  which  I  had  searched  for  in  vain  in  Glas- 
gow and  Edinburgh. 

In  the  county  of  Fife,  a  few  miles  from  Stirling, 
was  the  district  or  barony  of  Abercrombie,  from 
which  the  scattered  members  of  that  family  derive 
their  name.  It  is  said  to  be  from  Aber,  meaning 
beyond,  and  crombie,  a  crook,  alluding  to  the 
bend  or  crook  of  Fifeness.  The  parish  known 
long  as  St.  Monance  was  known  as  Abercrombz^ 
in  1 1 74;  it  is  now  called  Abercrom^jv- 

On  the  afternoon  of  May  15  I  left  Stirling  for 
Oban  on  the  west  coast  in  company  with  my 
friend,  from  whom  I  parted,  at  his  home  at  Bridge 
of  Allan,  with  a  grateful  appreciation  of  the  cour- 
tesies he  had  shown  me.  My  journey  led  me 
through  some  of  the  finest  scenery  of  the  western 
Highlands.  Soon  was  reached  the  village  ol 
Dunblane,  a  mile  and  a  half  east  of  which  was 
fought  the  battle  of  Sherriff-muir,  in  1745,  be- 
tween the  royal  forces  and  those  of  the  Pretender. 
At  this  battle  each  army  did  fight  gloriously,  each 
was  victorious,  and  each  did  run  away,  thus  jus- 
tifying the  words  of  the  ballad, — 

"  Now,  if  ye  speir  wha  wan  the  day, 
I've  telled  ye  what  I  saw,  Willie; 
We  baith  did  fight,  and  Ijaith  did  beat, 
And  baith  did  lin  awa',  Willie." 


1 86  THE   VALUE   OF  A   BELT. 

It  was  at  this  battle  that  a  Highlander  lamented 
that  he  had  lost  his  father  and  his  mother,  and  "a 
gude  buff  belt  wee  worth  them  both." 

The  railway  turns  from  the  river  Allan  nearly 
due  west  to  the  border  of  the  river  Teith,  and  at 
Doune  we  entered  on  the  scenery  of  "The  Lady 
of  the  Lake."     Changing  the  words  of  Scott, — 

"Along  thy  banks,  swift  Teith,  I  ride. 
And  in  the  race  can  mock  thy  tide." 

The  whole  section  is  richly  historic,  abounding 
with  ruined  castles  and  romantic  scenery.  We 
reached  Callander,  and  Benledi,  "  The  Hill  of 
God,"  reared  its  lofty  summit  2,875  ^^^^  above  us. 
Loch  Katrine  was  a  few  miles  to  the  south.  An 
hour  or  two  brought  us  to  Lix,  when  we  entered 
the  Glen-Dochart,  where  on  the  south  Ben  More 
rises  to  a  height  of  3,843  feet.  On  an  island  in 
Loch-Dochart  is  situated  Dochart  castle,  said  to 
be  the  earliest  home  of  the  Campbells  of  Glenfal- 
loch.  This  is  in  the  country  of  the  Clan  Camp- 
bell. Thirty  miles  distant  is  Inverary,  where  re- 
sides the  head  of  the  clan,  the  Duke  of  Argyle, 
father  of  the  Marquis  of  Lome,  the  husband  of 
Princess  Louise. 

It  is  instructive  to  note  the  rise  of  clanships, 
their  growth  and  power,  and  sometimes  their  de- 
cay, dissolution,  and  the  dispersion  of  their  mem- 
bers. No  country  in  the  world  has  been  so  divid- 
ed into  clans  as  Scotland,  and  no  country  has  fur- 


ORIGIN  OF  SCOTCH  CLANS.  1 87 

nished  so  rich,  varied,  and  wonderful  a  history. 
The  European  nations  in  olden  times  were  divid- 
ed into  tribes;  the  Scottish  people  were  divided 
into  clans.  When  territory  was  overrun  and  con- 
quered by  a  clan,  it  was  common  for  its  chief  to 
divide  a  portion  of  the  lands  among  members  of 
his  own  family.  They  held  their  lands  from  their 
chief,  and  as  the  safety  and  prosperity  of  each  in- 
dividual were  merged  in  that  of  his  clan,  the  mem- 
bers clung  together  with  wonderful  tenacity.  It 
was  distinguished  by  some  common  name,  either 
local  or  patronymic.  This  was  before  the  intro- 
duction of  surnames,  or  ensigns  armorial.  When 
these  had  become  numerous,  the  relations  and 
descendants  of  every  chieftain  assumed  his  arms 
and  bore  his  name.  His  vassals  were  only  too 
proud  to  follow  the  example  of  relatives.  Thus 
clanships  were  formed,  and  persons  who  bore  the 
same  name  were  not  necessarily  connected  by  ties 
of  blood.  In  a  few  generations  the  artificial  union 
became  a  natural  one.  The  members  of  these 
great  families  followed  their  chief  to  battle  because 
they  were  his  vassals,  because  he  was  the  head  of 
their  house,  because  they  loved  him.  They  serv- 
ed him  with  the  devotion  of  children. 

Alexander  III  was  born  at  Roxburgh  castle  Sep- 
tember 4,  1 241,  and  came  to  the  throne  of  Scot- 
land July  8,  1249,  when  eight  years  of  age.  It 
was  during  his  illustrious  reign  that  the  Campbells 
first  made  their  appearance  prominently  in  history. 


1 88         FIRST  APPEARANCE  OF  THE  CAMPBELLS. 

They  were  divided  into  two  great  families,  after- 
ward distinguished  by  the  patronymics  of  Mac- 
Arthur  and  MacCaileanmore.  In  1266  Gillespie 
Campbell,  head  of  the  latter  branch,  became  prom- 
inent, and  there  is  reason  to  believe  was  heritable 
sheriff  of  Argyle,  which  was  erected  into  a  sheriff- 
dom by  Alexander  II  in  1221.  Not  till  the  reign 
of  Robert  Bruce  did  the  Campbells  obtain  a  firm 
footing  in  Argyle.  They  laid  the  foundations  of 
their  future  greatness  and  power  between  the 
year  1300  and  the  date  of  Bruce's  death,  June  7, 
1329.  Many  forfeited  lands  were  granted  to  Sir 
Niell  Campbell,  of  Loch  Awe,  by  his  sovereign, 
and  his  subsequent  marriage  to  a  sister  of  the 
king  attached  this  family  still  more  strongly  to  the 
Bruce  dynasty.  Early  in  the  fifteenth  century  Sir 
Duncan  Campbell,  of  Loch  Awe,  afterward  the  first 
Lord  Campbell,  was  one  of  the  wealthiest  barons 
in  Scotland.  His  grandson,  Colon  Campbell,  the 
first  Earl  of  Argyle,  acquired  by  marriage  the  ex- 
tensive Lordship  of  Lome,  and  for  a  long  period 
held  the  office  of  Chancellor  of  Scotland.  He 
died  in  1492,  and  his  son  Archibald  Campbell  suc- 
ceeded him.  The  Campbells,  aspiring  and  ambi- 
tious, made  rapid  advancement  in  power  and  influ- 
ence during  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  cen- 
turies. The  Marquis  of  Argyle,  called  Gillespie 
Grumach,  aggrandized  his  family  greatly.  He 
obtained  vast  territories,  dispossessed  and  made 
vassals  of  other  clans.     His  son,  the  ninth  Earl  of 


THE   CAMPBELLS  ARE   COMING.  1 89 

Arg}'le,  consolidated  this  power,  and  about  1750 
this  was  more  influential  than  any  other  family  in 
Scotland.  This  influence  was  supported  by  the 
willing  cooperation  of  many  powerful  families  of 
the  same  surname.  The  numerical  strength  of  the 
Campbells  was  very  great.  The  force  of  the  clan 
was  four  thousand  men  in  17 15,  and  five  thousand 
in  1745.  Their  ancient  home  included  the  larger 
part  of  Argyle,  a  strip  of  country  one  hundred  and 
twelve  miles  long  and  forty-two  broad.  As  we 
passed  through  a  part  of  the  wild,  mountainous 
home  of  this  powerful  clan,  which  once  resounded 
with  their  warlike  cries  and  echoed  with  their  tread, 
one  could  not  but  recall  the  old  cry, — 

"  The  Campbells  are  coming !  " 

Time  has  wrought  magical  changes  there.  The 
railway  before  reaching  Tyndrum  is  constructed 
on  the  abrupt  side  of  a  ravine  at  a  height  of  from 
300  to  400  feet  above  the  lowest  point  in  the  val- 
ley. There  are  heavy  cuttings  in  the  sides  of  the 
mountains,  and  powerful  bridges  span  the  deep 
ravines.  The  steep,  precipitous  mountains  rise  to 
dizzy  heights  above  us,  while  far  beneath  us  were 
the  deep  valleys  with  the  flowing  river,  and  vil- 
lages with  the  low,  thatch-roofed  cottages  of  the 
humble  cotters.  After  reaching  Dalmally  we  pass- 
ed along  the  shore  of  Loch  Awe,  within  sight  of 
the  old  castle  of  Kilchurn,  which  lies  beneath  the 
shadows  of  the  towering  mountains  which  over- 


IQO  "IT'S  A   FAR   CRY  TO  LOCHOWr 

look  the  lake.  These  were  in  the  possession  of  the 
Campbells,  and  their  remote  fastnesses  gave  rise 
to  the  slogan  of  the  clan,  "It's  a  far  cry  to  Loch- 
ow,"  signifying  the  difficulty  of  overcoming  or  cap- 
turing them  in  their  mountain  fastnesses. 

Loch  Etive  soon  came  into  view  upon  our  right; 
and  when  the  shadows  deepened,  the  lights  on  the 
circling  shores  of  Oban  greeted  us  as  we  entered 
that  town  on  the  coast  of  the  Atlantic.  Through 
the  western  Highlands  a  silent  gentleman  from 
Glasgow  was  my  travelling  companion.  He  was 
quite  reticent  till  we  reached  Oban,  when  his  re- 
serve vanished.  We  registered  at  the  same  hotel, 
and  parted.  On  the  morrow  I  went  to  the  far 
North,  and  was  gone  some  ten  days.  While  on 
my  return  journey,  many  miles  from  Oban,  I  was 
saluted  by  a  gentleman,  and,  behold !  it  was  my 
former  silent  companion. 

Oban  is  romantically  situated,  being  built  on 
the  margin  of  a  semi-circular  bay,  and  is  a  great 
rendezvous  for  tourists.  Leaving  the  Imperial 
hotel  on  the  morning  succeeding  my  arrival,  I 
took  passage  on  the  steamer  Claymoj'e  for  Storn- 
oway.  Isle  of  Lewis,  a  journey  of  thirty-six  hours. 

Allusion  has  been  made  to  gifted  authors  who 
have  by  their  writings  done  so  much  for  Scotland. 
William  Black,  of  the  present,  by  the  fascination 
of  his  facile  pen,  has  thrown  and  is  throwing  such 
a  charm  about  the  western  islands  that  multi- 
tudes of  tourists  annually  visit  their  ocean-beaten 


WHITE  WINGS.  191 

shores.     I  was  now  to  see  many  islands  and  places 
described  in  "  Macleod  of  Dare,"  "White  Wings," 
and  "  Sheila  :  a  Princess  of  Thule."     Leaving  the 
pier   at   Oban,   in   the   brightness    of  the    spring 
morning,   we    passed    across    the  blue  waters    of 
Loch  Linnhe,  between  the  islands   of  Kerrera  on 
the   south  and   the  green   shores  of  Lismore  on 
the  north,  past    Lady   Rock  on   the  right,  whose 
form,  with  its  iron  beacon,  rose  darkly  from  the 
water,  while  upon  our  left,  on  land  projecting  into 
the  sea,  were  the  picturesque  ruins  of  Duart  casde, 
once  the  home  of  the  McLeans.     Looking  toward 
the  retreating  shores,  Ben  Cruachan,  Ben  Nevis, 
and  the  peaks  of  Glencoe,  stood  as  lofty  sentinels. 
In   front  were  the  mountains   of  Morven  and  of 
Mull,   and    farther  on    those    of  Ardnamurchan, 
As  we    passed  through  the  sound  of  Mull,  with 
the  light  resting  upon  the  mountains  of  the  island 
of  that  name,  it  was  in  vain  for  me  to  try  to  catch 
glimpses  of  the  solitudes  of  the  western  coast,  or 
the  great  range  of  mountains  of  Ulva.     So  real, 
so  vividly   has   William   Black    delineated  Castle 
Dare,    in     Macleod    of   Dare,    that    one    almost 
expected  to  see   its  high,  bold  battlements,  as  it 
stood  on  the  precipitous,  ocean-beaten  cliffs. 

We  halted  at  Tobermory,  in  island  of  Mull. 
The  Ettrick  Shepherd,  when  he  settled  with  his 
boatmen,  gave  expression  to  his  feelings  in  these 
lines : 


192  PASSIA'G    THE  MOUNTAINS  OF  ULVA. 

"  I  have  sailed  round  the  straits  and  headland  of  Mull : 
Her  vales  are  uncultured,  unhallowed,  and  weedy  ; 
Tier  mountains  are  barren,  her  haven  is  dull : 

Her  sons  may  be  brave,  but  they  are  cursedly  greedy." 

The  remark  in  relation  to  "her  sons"  will  be 
most  cordially  endorsed  by  all  travellers  as  appli- 
cable to  most  hotel  keepers  and  employes  in 
Europe. 

Ruined  castles,  magnificent  estates,  and  pala- 
tial modern  residences  line  the  shores  of  these 
islands.  We  rounded  Ardnamurchan,  the  west- 
ern extremity  of  the  mainland  of  Scotland,  and 
then  successively  the  islands  of  Muck,  Eig,  Rum, 
Canna,  and  Skye  came  in  view.  The  island  of 
Muck  is  uninhabited  save  by  two  herdsmen.  The 
inhabitants  once  numbered  one  hundred  and  forty, 
but  in  1828  they  were  induced  to  emigrate  to 
America. 

The  natives  of  the  western  islands  love  their 
homes  with  a  passionate  devotion,  and  almost 
compulsion  is  necessary  to  induce  them  to  emi- 
grate even  to  a  better  country.  A  woman  in  Skye 
said  she  would  rather  starve  among  its  rocks  than 
to  leave  her  home.  Somehow,  with  them  life  is 
warmer,  closer,  than  with  many  peoples,  and  they 
cling  to  each  other  and  to  their  homes  more  tena- 
ciously. The  fires  upon  their  hearthstones  burn 
more  freely,  and  home  lights  shine  more  softly, 
more  brightly,  and  penetrate  farther.  The  very 
names  of  mountains,  rocky  shores,  historic  spots, 
enshrined  in  verse  and  music,  are  in  their  hearts. 


TRAGEDY  OF  THE   CAVERN.  193 

We  know  the  feelings  of  the  people  of  Muck  as 
they  left  their  homes  and  the  sepulchres  of  their 
fathers : 

"  They  looked  to  the  countless  isles  that  lie 
From  Barra  to  Mull,  and  from  Jura  to  Skye ; 
They  looked  to  heaven,  they  looked  to  the  main. 
As  on  places  they  were  not  to  see  again." 

Eig  island  is  eight  miles  in  circumference,  with 
a  population  of  250  persons.     We  passed  near  it, 
and  had  a  fine  view  of  Scuir-eig,  a  peak  which 
rises  in  its  centre  450  feet.     Near  the  shore  is  a 
cave,  noted  as  the  scene  of  a  horrible  destruction 
of  life  some  230  years  ago.     The  inhabitants  had 
fallen  under  the  displeasure  of  the  Macleods  of 
Skye,  and  they  thirsted  for  vengeance.     They  re- 
paired to  the  island  in  their  boats  in  large  num- 
bers. The  Eigites,  fearing  evil,  fled  en  masse  from 
their  huts  to  this  cave — which  is  nearly  invisible, 
but  when  entered  is  260  feet  long,  27  feet  high, 
and  20  feet  broad — for  protection.     The  enemy 
plundered  and  burned  the  abandoned  huts,  but 
failed  to  find  the  people.      As  the  Macleods  were 
leaving  the  island,  they  espied  one  of  the  people, 
who    was    on  the  watch.     Landing  quickly  from 
their  boats,   they   found    his   tracks   in   the   light 
snow,  and   traced   him   to   the   cave.     Then,  with 
fiendish  cruelty,  they  gathered  combustibles,  and, 
placing  them  at  the  mouth  of  the  cavern,  set  them 
on  fire,  thus  smothering  200  people. 
Scott  has  thus  described  the  tragedy : 
9* 


194  THE  JAGGED   COAST  OF  LEWIS. 

"  The  chief,  relentless  in  his  wrath, 
With  blazing  heath  blockades  the  path ; 
In  dense  and  stifling  volumes  rolled, 
The  vapor  filled  the  caverned  hold ! 
The  warrior's  threat,  the  infant's  plain, 
The  mother's  screams,  were  heard  in  vain  ! 
The  vengeful  chief  maintains  his  fires. 
Till  in  the  vault  a  tribe  expires  ! 
The  bones  which  strew  that  cavern's  gloom 
Too  well  attest  their  dismal  doom." 

Rum  island  is  passed,  which  is  thirty  miles  in 
circumference ;  then  Canna  comes  in  view.  We 
entered  Sleat  sound,  passing  through  Kyle  Rhea. 
All  along  the  way  now  in  full  view  was  the  mag- 
nificent scenery  of  Skye.  There  was  Annandale 
castle,  the  seat  of  Lord  Macdonald.  It  is  near  the 
shore,  on  a  gentle  slope,  surrounded  by  planta- 
tions of  trees  planted  by  human  hands.  At  a 
certain  point  Lord  Macdonald's  factor,  a  very 
officious,  overbearing  man,  came  on  board  the 
steamer.  We  passed  Scalpa  and  Raasay,  and 
reached  Portree,  in  Skye,  in  the  night.  Skirting 
the  shores  of  these  islands,  plainly  in  sight,  were 
the  low,  thatch-roofed  cottages  of  the  crofters, 
very  near  each  other,  with  a  strip  of  land,  perhaps 
six  rods  wide  and  fifteen  rods  in  length,  which 
constituted  the  farm  of  the  occupant.  As  we 
neared  many  towns  where  there  were  no  piers,  the 
people  would  come  out  and  meet  us  in  their  small 
boats,  bringing  passengers  and  merchandise  for 
the  ship,  and  carrying  away  stores  for  themselves. 
They  usually  spoke  the  Gaelic  tongue. 


WELCOME    TO  STORNOWAY.  1 95 

On  the  morning  of  the  second  day  of  our  voy- 
age we  reached  Gairloch,  on  the  main  coast.  The 
passage  had  given  us  some  magnificent  views  of 
scenery.  The  Minch  is  a  belt  of  sea  between  the 
main-land  and  the  western  islands.  It  is  rough, 
choppy,  and  often  dangerous.  It  was  rough  with 
us.  The  rain  fell  rapidly,  and  a  thick  mist  envel- 
oped the  sea.  We  had  steamed  toward  the  north 
for  thirty-six  hours.  A  novelty  was  about  the 
trip,  and  to  be  in  that  out-of-the-way  part  of  the 
world  had  a  wonderful  fascination  to  me.  Toward 
evening,  on  the  second  day  of  our  voyage,  the 
rough,  bare,  jagged,  rocky  hills  of  the  island  of 
Lewis  broke  upon  our  sight  as  we  entered  the 
harbor  of  Stornoway. 

So  I  was  in  Stornoway  at  last,  and  this  fact 
afforded  me  the  liveliest  satisfaction.  The  city 
had  great  attractions  for  me.  Barely  had  my  feet 
touched  the  soil  when  I  was  accosted:  "Is  this  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Fogan  ?"  My  questioner  was  assured  to 
the  contrary,  but  informed  that  he  would  find  that 
gentleman  and  his  wife  on  the  steamer.  After 
registering  at  the  hotel,  a  messenger  was  despatch- 
ed for  my  mail,  which  soon  reached  me.  The 
post-master  of  the  city  was  Norman  Morison,  Esq., 
a  clansman,  and  a  fine,  intelligent  gentleman. 
We  had  once  corresponded.  Hardly  had  my  mail 
reached  me  before  he  was  announced,  and  greeted 
me  heartily,  and  gave  me  the  kindest  welcome  to 
Stornoway.     A  delightful   evening  was  spent   in 


196  A    CLANSMAN'S  WELCOME. 

that  far-away  city  of  the  north,  while  the  warring 
elements  rattled  the  hotel  windows,  and  the  beat- 
ing rain  fell  heavily  on  the  ground.  Subsequent- 
ly^ at  his  "  ain  fireside,"  surrounded  by  his  agree- 
able family,  I  was  given  the  warm  welcome  of  a 
clansman.  Truly,  Scottish  hearts  are  warm  and 
very  kind. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


HE  island  of  Lewis  and  Harris  is  known  as 
Long  Island,  and  comprises  561,200  square 
acres,  with  some  30,000  people.  The  part  called 
Harris  is  owned  by  the  Earl  Dunmore,  while  the 
larger  part  of  the  whole  island  of  Lewis  belongs 
to  the  heirs  of  the  late  Sir  James  Matheson.  Sir 
James  bought  this  a  few  years  since  for  $950,000, 
and  then  built  a  magnificent  castle  at  Stornoway, 
situated  on  a  commanding  eminence,  having  a 
prospect  of  the  city,  the  harbor,  the  outlying  dis- 


198  DESCRIPTION  OF  LEWIS. 

tricts,  and  the  distant  hills  across  the  Minch,  in 
the  counties  of  Ross  and  Sutherland,  on  the  main- 
land of  Scotland.  The  late  owner  made  things 
very  attractive  on  his  demense  about  the  castle. 
He  constructed  ten  miles  of  carriage  drives  and 
five  miles  of  foot  paths  through  it,  and  planted  it 
with  various  kinds  of  shrubs  and  trees.  The  castle 
is  unoccupied  most  of  the  time,  as  Lady  Matheson 
prefers  living  in  London.  The  whole  island  was 
spanned  by  fine  roads  by  the  late  proprietor,  and 
he  did  much  for  the  betterment  of  the  condition 
of  the  people. 

This  island  is  some  sixty  miles  in  length,  and 
from  five  to  thirty  miles  in  breadth.  Innumerable 
lakelets  are  in  the  northern  section,  and  in  the 
southern  part  mountains  raise  their  mighty  forms 
into  the  sky  from  3000  to  4000  feet,  all  bearing 
Scandinavian  names  given  them  by  the  old  Norse 
residents  centuries  ago.  The  coast  is  full  of  bays 
and  inlets  abounding  with  fish.  The  western 
section  has  much  productive  land,  but  the  eastern 
part  is  not  valuable  for  agriculture. 

Stornoway,  with  its  3000  people,  is  the  chief 
town,  and  finely  situated  with  the  open  bay  in 
front.  As  one  approaches  it  from  the  sea,  it  has 
an  attractive  look.  It  is  one  of  those  places  to 
which  "distance  lends  enchantment  to  the  view." 
The  city  is  treeless,  with  few  signs  of  shrubbery, 
and  the  houses  are  of  light  stone.  There  was 
not  a  tree  on  the  island  till  Sir  James  Matheson 


«" 


BLACK  WINGS.  1 99 

made  his  plantation.  There  is  a  strong  flavor  of 
fish  about  the  town,  for  it  is  one  of  the  most  noted 
points  for  the  herring  fishery  in  the  world.  The 
principal  business  of  the  people  is  fishing,  besides 
cultivating  a  little  plot  of  ground. 

One  Sabbath  was  spent  in  Stornoway.  Four 
thousand  fishermen  were  in  the  city  to  spend 
that  day,  and  the  number  of  their  boats  in  the 
harbor  was  estimated  at  one  thousand.  Many  of 
the  men  and  women  were  from  England,  and  as 
perfect  specimens  of  human  beings  in  robust  and 
perfect  health  as  one  ever  saw.  The  wives  and 
daughters  of  these  fishermen  remain  in  the  city 
to  cure  the  fish. 

Attended  service  on  the  Sabbath  at  the  Eng- 
lish-speaking Free  church,  Rev.  Mr.  Martin,  pas- 
tor; and  in  the  afternoon  at  Gaelic  church,  where 
the  preaching  was  in  that  tongue.  The  churches 
are  plain  in  all  respects.  Monday  morning  was 
bright  and  fair,  and  the  city  was  early  astir,  as  the 
multitude  of  fishermen  were  thronging  into  their 
boats  and  spreading  their  sails.  The  harbor  was 
black  with  their  black  wings  as  they  put  out  to 
sea,  and  finally  faded  from  our  view  beneath  the 
distant  silvery  waters.  It  was  an  extraordinary 
spectacle,  one  which  perhaps  could  be  seen  in  no 
other  place  on  the  globe. 

Stornoway  is  as  far  north  as  the  central  portion 
of  Hudson's  bay.  Pleasant  memories  of  the  place 
linger  with    me.      Norman   Morison   and   I   took 


200  LIFE  IN  STORNOWAY. 

many  attractive  rambles  there.     We  saw  all  sec- 
tions ;  crossed  to  the  high  eminence,  by  the  great 
castle ;  went  through  the  magnificent  plantations 
on  hill  and  in  dale,  where  each  tree  and  shrub  were 
planted  by  human  hands ;  passed  over  high  bridges 
where  the  views  seemed  like  fairy  land,  as  we  be- 
held the  waters   rush    over  ragged    ledges,   and 
heard  their  rippling  music  ;  went  to  the  highest 
point  where,  in  the  shadows    of  departing  day, 
were  fine  views  of  the  shipping,   of  the  harbor, 
and  of  Stornoway — quiet,  peaceful  city  of  Storn- 
oway;    not  beautiful    in    itself,    but   very   lovely 
from  that  shady  height  when  the  sun  is  sinking, 
when  the    twilight  is    deepening,   and  the   glory 
of  declining  day  falls  upon   the  sea,  the  distant 
landscape,   and  the  nearer  city   spires.     Strange 
seemed  the  length  of  days,  even  in  May,  in  that 
far-away  island,   in  the  far-away  north,  where  it 
was   twilight  at  two  in  the  morning,  where  one 
could  see  to  read  at  three,  and  where  the  even- 
ing shadows  only  deepened  into  darkness  after 
ten  at  night. 

Lewis  is  the  early  home  of  the  sept  or  clan 
Morison.  In  the  district  of  Ness,  near  the  Butt 
of  Lewis,  the  very  northernmost  point,  the  Mor- 
isons  have  for  many  centuries  had  their  home. 

"  Like  the  water-fowl,  they  built  their  nests  among  the  ocean's  waves." 

In  a  "Description  of  Lewis,  by  John  Morisone, 
Indweller  There,"  written  before  1688,  he  says, — 


FIRST  HOME   OF  THE  MORISONS. 


20 1 


c5i^^»QJ^ 


"All  the  Morisons  of  Scotland  may  challenge 
their  descent  from  this  man,"  Mores,  the  son  of 
Kennanus,  whom  the  Gaelic  historians  call  Maku- 
rich,  son  to  one  of  the  kings  of  Norway,  "some 
of  whose  posteritie  remain  in  the  island  to  this 
day."  The  chief  of  the  clan  Morison  lived  at 
Habost,  Ness,  and  was  hereditary  judge,  or  brieve 
(breitheamh),  of  Lewis.  "On  assuming  office  he 
swore  he  would  administer  justice  as  evenly  as 
the  backbone  of  the  herring  lies  between  the  two 
sides  of  the  fish." 

It  is  asserted  that  Kenneth  More  or  Mhoir,  an 
ancestor  of  the  Morisons, 
accompanied  the  "  Good 
Sir  James  Douglass"  into 
Spain  with  the  heart  of 
King  Robert  Bruce,  and 
in  a  charge  against  the 
Moors  to  rescue  Sir  Will- 
iam St.  Clair,  of  Roslin,  in 
which  Douglass  was  killed 
(see  page  168),  Kenneth 
More  slew  three  Moors, 
and  cut  off  their  heads, 
when  one  of  the  Scottish 
host  exclaimed,  "One  Scottish  Christian  More 
can  kill  three  pagan  Moors !  " 

The  arms  of  different  branches  vary  but  little. 

Arms     Morison  (Preston  Grange,  Scotland),  New 
Register.     Argent   (silver  or  white)  ;    three    Moors' 


Morison. 

Coat  of  Arms. 


202  GREA  T  NUMBER   OF  MORISONS. 

heads  couped,  sable,  two,  and  one  banded  of  the  first. 
Crest,  three  Saracen  heads  ;  motto,  Pretio  -prudentia 
■p7-aestat, — rendered,  "Prudence  precedes  the  prize." 

An  heiress  of  the  Morisons  having  declared 
she  would  wed  only  a  Morison,  Cain  Macdonald, 
of  the  island  of  Ardnamurchan,  passed  himself 
off  for  a  Morison,  became  her  husband,  and  also 
brieve.  This  marriage  took  place  previous  to 
1346. 

Besides  the  district  of  Ness  and  the  island  of 
Harris  the  Morisons  were  dominant  in  Diurness, 
in  Lord  Reay's  country.  The  tradition  of  the 
settlement  is,  that  Ay  Morison  went  to  Thurso  in 
the  county  of  Caithness  on  a  business  enterprise, 
and  there  married  the  daughter  of  the  Bishop  of 
Caithness,  who  bestowed  on  the  young  couple 
the  whole  of  Diurness,  with  Ashir.  This  Morison 
subsequently  brought  from  Lewis  a  colony  of 
some  sixty  families  of  Morisons,  "to  whom  he 
gave  lands  upon  his  property;  hence  it  is  that  the 
name  of  Morison  is  prevalent  in  these  parts,  for 
though  the  property  has  fallen  into  other  hands, 
the  stock  of  the  inhabitants  remains."  In  Lewis 
there  were  continued  feuds  between  the  Morisons, 
Macleods,  and  Macaulays. 

The  Morisons  are  very  numerous  in  Lewis,  and 
in  1 86 1  numbered  1,402  persons,  or  one  fifteenth 
of  the  population.  In  Harris  there  were  530,  or 
one  seventh  of  the  inhabitants.  They  have  been 
numerous  there  for  centuries.     They  emigrated 


THE  MAC  AULA  YS  AND  THE  MACLEODS.  203 

to  the  main-land  by  scores  of  families  centuries 
ap-o.  Thev  have  multiplied  and  branched  out  till 
now  they  are  scattered  over  Scotland,  England, 
Ireland,  and  are  in  all  parts  of  America,  Austra- 
lia, and  other  countries.  The  Macaulays  and  the 
Morisons  have  intermarried,  and  it  was  a  pleasure 
to  meet  an  elderly  lady.  Miss  A.  Stuart  Morison, 
who  was  a  cousin  of  Lord  Macaulay  the  historian. 
One  day,  while  riding,  I  asked  the  driver  his  name, 
and  was  surprised  when  he  said,  "Morison."  The 
Morisons  are  so  numerous  in  Scotland  that  it 
ceased  to  be  a  curiosity  to  meet  one  of  the 
name. 

The  Morisons,  like  the  Campbells,  the  Arm- 
strongs, the  Macdonalds,  the  Johnstons,  the  Mac- 
kenzies,  the  Macaulays,  the  Elliots,  the  Scotts, 
the  Macleods,  and  other  distinctly  Scotch  families, 
are  scattered  over  the  earth.  Wherever  one  is 
found  of  the  names  mentioned,  if  he  comes  right- 
fully by  it  and  his  pedigree  can  be  fully  traced,  it 
will  lead  back  to  Scotland. 

The  Macaulays  were  another  ancient  and  pow- 
erful rival  family  in  Lewis.  They  were  settled  at 
Uig,  and  there  were  many  bitter  feuds  between 
them  and  the  rival  clans  of  Morison  and  Macleod. 
It  was  from  the  Lewis  clan  that  Thomas  Babbing- 
ton  Macaulay,  the  celebrated  essayist,  historian, 
and  statesman,  sprang.  His  celebrity  has  thrown 
great  honor  on  the  family,  and  made  the  name 
familiar  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 


204         A  BEAUTY  NOT  OF  LIFE,  BUT  OF  DEATH. 

The  Macleods  were  a  considerable  clan  also  in 
Lewis  and  in  Harris,  and  the  history  of  the  fam- 
ilies of  Morison,  Macaulay,  and  Macleod  is  insep- 
arably connected,  as  they  were  rival  clans,  and 
frequently  at  war,  and  foraging  on  each  others' 
property. 

On  the  morning  of  May  20th  I  took  the  mail 
car  from  Stornoway  for  Garra-na-hina  in  the  inte- 
rior, fourteen  miles  away.  It  was  a  chill,  clear 
morning  as  we  whirled  out  of  the  city,  past  the 
castle  and  the  plantations,  past  a  camp  of  Gypsies, 
into  the  open  country,  where  one  of  the  first  sights 
that  greeted  us  was  a  gray  crow  taking  his  break- 
fast of  cold  lamb.  These  crows  are  large  and 
handsome,  and  more  pugnacious,  persistent,  and 
troublesome  than  their  cousins,  the  black  crows  of 
America. 

We  were  travelling  toward  the  sunset.  There 
were  endless  miles  of  dreary  moorland,  unrelieved 
by  the  beauties  of  vegetation  save  the  reddish 
brown  heather.  In  the  far  beyond  were  the 
high  swelling  mountains.  Between  us  and  them 
were  winding  streams  and  the  sparkling  waters 
of  numberless  lakes,  which  reflected  in  their 
bosoms  the  great  depths  of  blue  above  as  they 
glistened  and  glimmered  in  the  brightness  of 
the  morning  sunlight.  But  no  trees,  no  shrubs, 
no  blooming  flowers  were  there.  Beautiful  it  was, 
but  not  the  beauty  of  abounding  life,  for  over 
those  solitary  stretches  of  moor  were  few  tokens 


THE  SUN  TEMPLE.  205 

of  joyful  existence.     Over  it  all  was  the  beauty  of 
sadness,  deep  melancholy,  and  death. 

"  O  land  of  red  heather ! 
O  land  of  wild  weather  ! 
And  the  cry  of  the  waves, 
And  the  sigh  of  the  breeze." 

We  travelled  in  the  untenanted  part  of  Lewis, 
We  neared  the  point  of  destination.  We  reached 
the  brow  of  the  hill  overlooking  Garra-na-hina, 
which  cannot  be  better  described  than  in  the  glow- 
ing language  of  William  Black,  in  his  "  Princess 
of  Thule,"  for  I  was  in  the  very  locality  described 
by  him  in  his  charming  work :  "At  length  they 
came  upon  the  brow  of  the  hill  overlooking  Garra- 
na-hina,  and  the  panorama  of  the  western  lochs 
and  mountains.  Down  there  on  the  side  of  the 
hill  was  the  small  inn,  with  its  little  patch  of  gar- 
den ;  then  a  few  moist  meadows  leading  over  to 
the  estuary  of  the  Black  River,  and  beyond  that  an 
illimitable  prospect  of  heathy  undulations  rising 
into  the  mighty  peaks  of  Cracabhal,  Mealasabhal, 
and  Suainabhal.  Then  on  the  right,  leading  away 
out  to  the  as  yet  invisible  Atlantic,  lay  the  blue 
plain  of  Loch  Roag,  with  a  margin  of  yellow  sea- 
weed along  its  shores,  where  the  rocks  revealed 
themselves  at  low  water,  and  with  a  multitude  of 
large,  variegated,  and  verdant  islands,  which  hid 
from  sight  the  still  greater  Borva  beyond." 

I  stopped  at  the  inn  where  the  distinguished 
novelist  has  often  been  a  guest,  and  which,  justly 
or  not,  has  been  claimed  as  the  original  of  the 


206 


DRUIDICAL   STONES  AT  CALLERNISH. 


home  of  "Sheila"  and  the  "King  of  Borva."  I 
met  the  aunt  of  the  fair  Scottish  maiden,  who 
some  assert  was  the  person  who  originated  in 
Wilham  Black's  mind  the  lovely  character  of  the 
Princess  of  Thule.  Though  this  claim  has  been 
denied  by  the  gifted  author,  yet  the  parties  them- 
selves are  not  averse  to  the  notoriety  it  has  given 
them,  and  the  photographs  of  this  Scottish  lady 
have  been  sold  to  tourists  from  all  sections  of  the 
world.  The  inn  is  built  of  stone,  and  is  attractive 
and  homelike.  The  remains  of  a  Pietist  tower, 
which  antedates  veritable  history,  stand  in  their 
loneliness  on  a  high  elevation. 

Two  miles  from  the  hotel,  and  distinctly  to  be 
seen,  is  Callernish,  sixteen  miles  from  Stornoway, 

with  its  distinguished 
feature,  the  druidical 
stones,  or  cruciform 
sun  temple,  said  to 
be  the  most  perfect 
remains  of  the  kind 
in  Great  Britain.  I 
walked  to  this  inter- 
esting place,  called 
by  the  natives  Turu- 
sachan,  "The  house 
of  mourning,"  which 
is  situated  near  Loch  Roag,  on  the  west  coast  of 
Lewis.  It  is  aptly  described  as  follows:  "The 
stones  are  forty-eight  in  number,  and  are  arranged 


-a=v^ 


Druidical  Stones  at  Callernish. 


DRUIDICAL  STONES  AT  CALLERNISH.  20/ 

in  a  cruciform  manner,  with  a  circle  at  the  inter- 
section. The  long  leg  of  the  cross  extends  from 
south  to  north  392  feet,  and  the  transverse  line 
approximating  to  right  angles  measures  141  feet, 
while  the  circle  is  42  feet  in  diameter.  The  stones 
are  not  hewn,  but  are  rough,  undressed  blocks  of 
gneiss  standing  upright.  By  many  these  stones 
are  supposed  to  mark  a  worshipping-place  of  the 
druids,  and  in  antiquity  to  greatly  antedate  the 
Christian  era. 

The  stones  are  from  10  to  12  feet  above  the 
surface,  and  stand  like  weird  sentinels  of  a  former 
age,  of  a  worship  which  has  passed  away,  of  a  peo- 
ple whose  history  has  forever  disappeared.  Dur- 
ing many  centuries  they  have  endured  the  blaz- 
ing sun,  the  buffetings  of  storm  and  tempest,  and 
have  been  unmolested  by  the  many  generations 
of  men  who  have  passed  away  since  their  erec- 
tion. A  peat-bed  more  than  five  feet  in  thick- 
ness has  been  removed  from  about  them,  having 
grown  since  the  ancient  worshippers  gathered 
there.  Two  other  places  similar  to  this,  though 
not  so  extensive,  are  in  the  same  locality. 

Leaving  this  interesting  spot,  it  was  my  deter- 
mination to  see  and  investigate  somewhat  the 
houses  and  home-life  of  the  people  in  this  densely 
populated  district,  as  there  were  evidences  on 
every  hand  of  a  kind  of  life  not  familiar  to  me. 
At  a  short  distance  from  the  druidical  stones,  in 
plain  view,  was  a  dusky  line  of  huts,  and  others 


208  HOUSES  OF  THE   CROFTERS. 

were  thickly  scattered  over  the  descending  ground 
to  the  dark  waters  in  the  lowlands  beneath.  The 
blue,  dingy  peat  smoke  rose  slowly  from  the  roofs, 
and  gave  a  peculiar  look  to  the  habitations  of 
the  crofters  and  fishermen  combined.  Picking  my 
way  along  by  stepping  from  stone  to  stone, — for 
stones  cropped  out  thickly  in  the  wet,  cold, 
spongy  ground, — I  reached  one  of  the  huts,  which 
are  different  somewhat  from  those  in  the  lowlands 
of  Scotland. 

They  are  built  of  large  rough  stones,  at  least 
five  feet  in  height,  and  some  three  feet  in  thick- 
ness. Any  wood  of  sufficient  length  and  strength 
answers  the  purpose  of  making  the  frame-work 
of  the  roof,  which  is  covered  thickly  with  long 
grass.  Many  strong  grass  ropes  pass  from  side 
to  side  of  the  roof,  at  intervals  of  about  a  foot,  to 
which  stones  are  attached  to  prevent  the  heavy 
winds  from  destroying  the  coverings  of  their 
dwellings.  The  huts  are  perhaps  five  rods  in 
length,  and  twelve  to  fifteen  feet  in  width.  About 
fifteen  feet  from  one  end  is  the  front  door  and 
entrance.  This  also  serves  as  the  back  door  and 
as  the  end  door,  and,  to  carry  out  the  utility  of  the 
scheme,  it  also  answers  as  the  stable  door,  for  it  is 
the  only  entrance  for  the  family  and  stock.  All 
are  housed  beneath  the  same  roof.  Two  thirds 
of  the  space  is  appropriated  for  the  cows  and  other 
domestic  animals,  which  comprises  that  portion  of 
the  mansion  at  which  is  the  entrance.     Passing  in 


THE  SMOKING   CABINS  A  T  NIGHT.  209 

the  rear  of  the  animals,  some  thirty  feet,  one 
enters  the  Hving-room  of  the  family,  the  kitchen, 
bed-room,  and  parlor,  all  in  one,  with  only  a  sub- 
division of  light  stone  wall. 

This  apartment  is  separated  from  the  stock  by 
a  rude  partition  of  unmatched  boards.  In  the 
centre  of  the  room,  whose  floor  is  usually  the  solid 
ground,  is  a  peat  fire,  while  above  in  the  roof  is 
a  hole  eight  inches  square,  which  answers  for  a 
chimney.  The  apartment  will  be  dense  with 
smoke,  and  so  purposely,  for  it  is  intended  that 
the  smoke  shall  penetrate  and  soak  the  thatched 
roof,  which  is  frequently  removed  and  used  as  a 
fertilizer  to  the  soil.  In  a  dark  night  one  viewing 
these  cabins,  with  the  pale  peat  smoke  issuing 
from  all  parts  of  the  roof,  would  suppose  they 
were  on  fire.  This  is  an  accurate  description  of 
such  homes  as  I  have  seen  and  visited. 

I  called  at  one  of  these  houses  and  rapped  at 
the   door,  when   from   the   interior  came  the  re- 
sponse, "Come   in."     I  stepped  inside  the  door, 
and  went  down  a  foot  and  a  half  before  my  feet 
struck  solid  ground.     This  was  the  spring-time, 
and  the  stable  had  been  thoroughly  cleared.     The 
place  was  dark  and  full  of  smoke.     Groping  my 
way   along,    I  saw   mine    host   at   last,    who   was 
nailing  a  board  to  the  partition  between  his  parlor 
and  the  stable.     He  greeted  me  with  self-respect- 
ful courtesy  and  cordiality,   though  with  evident 
surprise,  and   gave    me  the  best    seat  the  room 
10 


210 


IN  THE    TOILS. 


afforded,  which  was  a  backless  chair.  Beside  this 
there  was  only  a  rough  wooden  bench.  On  the 
ground  in  the  centre  of  the  room  a  peat  fire  was 
slowly  smouldering. 

Toward  the  end  a  stone  wall,  three  feet  high, 
was  built  across  the  room,  leaving  a  walk  between 

that  and  the  side  of 
the  cottage.  This 
was  evidently  a 
sleeping  apartment. 
The  rooms  are  dim- 
ly lighted  by  small 
windows.  The 
crofters  speak  Gae- 
lic, and  many  can 
also  speak  English. 
The  family  consisted 

Cottage;  AND  Pictish  Tower.  of   the    husband    and 

wife,  a  daughter  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  a  young 
child.  This  man,  like  his  neighbors,  had  a  small 
plot  of  ground,  which  he  cultivated,  and  the  re- 
mainder of  his  time  was  spent  in  fishing.  He  was 
intelligent,  and  well  informed  in  Scotch  history, 
and  was  a  tall,  fine-looking  man.  He  spoke  of 
the  condition  of  the  crofters,  and  knew  their 
wrongs,  but  they  were  in  the  clutches  of  their 
landlords,  who  had  the  law  and  wealth  and  power 
upon  their  side.  What  could  they  do?  If  they 
built  better  houses,  had  better  furniture,  or  im- 
proved their  lands,  their  rents  would  be  increased 


DISTRESS  OF   THE   CROFTERS.  211 

accordingly.  All  would  be  for  the  benefit  of  the 
landlords.  He  then  accompanied  me  for  an  hour 
or  two  among  his  neighbors,  and  over  their  lands. 
When  we  parted,  his  manner  exhibited  as  much 
politeness  as  that  of  any  gentleman.  Other  cot- 
tages were  visited,  but  they  are  alike.  The  inhab- 
itants are  a  self-respecting,  moral,  kind  people, 
and  with  a  fair  chance  in  life  would  make  as 
intelligent  and  fine  a  race  as  we  have  in  America. 

Often  upon  the  "Queen's  highway"  we  met 
men,  women,  girls,  and  boys,  many  of  them  bare- 
footed, with  great  bundles  upon  their  backs,  going 
to  Stornoway.  Their  shoes  were  in  their  packs, 
but  before  entering  the  city  they  would  put  them 
upon  their  feet.  They  were  good-natured,  with 
frank,  open  countenances,  and  had  none  of  that 
servile  appearance  which  one  sees  in  the  people 
in  many  parts  of  Europe. 

Many  read  a  few  months  ago  of  the  little  re- 
bellion among  the  crofters  in  Skye,  who  did  not 
know  the  causes,  which  were  not  clearly  under- 
stood. But  it  is  not  difficult  to  account  for  the 
discontent  among  the  poor  crofters  of  Skye  and 
the  adjacent  islands.  Much  of  the  land  is  unfit 
for  cultivation.  The  results  of  labor  are  uncer- 
tain, and  the  climate  is  unfavorable.  The  land 
system  is  nearly  as  bad  as  it  can  be.  The  greater 
part  of  Skye  belongs  to  one  proprietor,  as  Lewis 
does  to  another.  The  curse  of  great  estates,  in- 
tended for  the  support  of  a  double  or  triple  set  of 


212  NO  SUNSHINE. 

dependents  upon  the  soil,  is  felt  in  these  islands. 
Many  of  the  lands  are  held  by  middlemen, — men 
between  the  owner  and  the  cultivator,  men  who 
hold  the  land  by  lease  and  sublet  it  at  higher  rates 
to  others,  thus  levying  a  second  rent,  which  is  al- 
most unendurable  in  the  Hebrides. 

The  crofters  are  small  renters  who  hold  little 
fields  or  gardens,  such  as  have  been  described, 
upon  the  most  uncertain  of  tenures,  that  of  tenants 
at  will,  and  at  exorbitant  rents.  They  live  largely 
by  fishing,  and  serving  summer  tourists,  and  their 
lives  are  one  long,  hard  battle  with  destitution  and 
with  fearful  obstacles.  Into  their  lives  flows  no 
sunshine  of  prosperity,  as  Americans  understand 
that  word,  but  into  them  pours  an  almost  over- 
whelming flood  of  trouble  and  adversity. 

That  there  should  be  trouble  among  an  exces- 
sive population  thus  situated  is  not  surprising,  but 
it  is  wonderful  that  there  is  not  more.  A  people 
who  at  best  have  only  the  barest  possibility  for 
subsistence,  and  exposed  to  the  loss  of  that  by 
common  circumstances  or  the  arbitrary  will  of  their 
oppressors,  are  not  apt  to  be  particular  as  to  legal 
forms  in  their  efforts  to  preserve  themselves,  their 
wives,  and  their  little  ones  from  starvation  and 
destruction. 

The  land  troubles  in  Ireland  have  been  agitated 
for  years,  and  are  being  settled.  The  murmuring 
of  the  people  is  heard  in  Scotland ;  and  there  is  a 
dark  day   for  Britain    coming  unless  the  wrongs 


WILL  BRITAIN  BE  JUST?  213 

under  which  her  common  people  Hve  are  redressed 
speedily.  The  mutterings  of  a  coming-  storm  are 
distinctly  heard;  and  unless  the  rulers  of  Britain 
are  wise  enough  to  allay  the  discontent  of  her 
people  by  simple  justice,  the  storm  will  burst  upon 
the  land  with  cyclonic  power,  and  sweep  away  the 
whole  nefarious  system  of  landlordship  and  land- 
ownership,  as  at  present  existing.  It  ought  to  be 
wiped  out,  and  the  sooner  the  better.  My  sym- 
pathies are  wholly  with  the  people,  and  it  is  my 
sincere  hope  and  desire  that  a  strong  agitation  will 
be  kept  up  by  proper  means  in  Scotland  till  the 
whole  land  system  is  changed,  and  the  land  comes 
into  the  possession  of  the  people.  It  is  said  that 
seventy  men  own  one  half  of  Scotland.  Britons 
are  very  free  in  criticizing  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment and  Americans,  but  are  rather  restive 
when  the  great  wrongs  under  which  so  many  of 
their  people  live  are  pointed  out.  It  was  with 
peculiar  delight  that  upon  more  than  one  occasion 
it  was  my  privilege  to  suggest  to  some  of  them  the 
propriety  of  rectifying  some  of  the  great  wrongs 
which  exist  there,  before  accusing  the  United 
States  government  of  being  "the  most  corrupt 
one  on  the  face  of  the  earth." 


CHAPTER    IX. 

FROM    INVERNESS    TO    THE    ENGLISH    BORDER. 

§N  the  morning  of  May  21  I  left  the  wind- 
swept shores  of  Lewis  by  steamer  for  Ulla- 
pool, en  route  to  Inverness,  113  miles  distant. 
We  were  soon  upon  the  tossing  waters  of  the 
Minch;  and  the  white  houses  of  Stornoway,  look- 
ing like  chalky  cliffs,  sank  lower  and  lower  into 
the  blue  sea  and  disappeared.  Lewis,  with  its 
music  of  the  sea  and  mountains,  passed  from  my 
vision.  Mentally  I  still  behold  it,  and  its  mem- 
ories will  only  be  swept  away  by  death.  The 
Minch  was  rough,  and  the  chilly  air  added  to  the 
discomfort  of  the  sea  voyage.  In  four  hours  we 
landed  at  Ullapool,  fifty  miles  distant.  As  we 
neared  the  main  coast  of  Scodand,  the  high,  glo- 
rious mountains  loomed  up  before  us.  The 
peak  of  Ben  More  was  upon  our  left,  and  Ben 
Goleach  upon  our  right. 

Ullapool,  lying  upon  Loch  Broom,  is  a  decayed 
looking  town  of  little  interest.  The  stage  runs 
to  Garve,  thirty-two  miles  away.  Pleasant  trav- 
elling companions  bore  me  company.  Among 
them  were  Rev.  Mr.  Martin,  of  Stornoway,  and 
his    friend,    a   bright,    witty    ministerial    brother. 


A   PRACTICAL  JOKE.  215 

The  latter  told  an  anecdote  of  a  friend  who  was  a 
physician  in  Leith.  A  clerical  gentleman  was  vis- 
iting him,  when  the  physician  requested  him  to 
converse  and  pray  with  his  patients.  After  vis- 
iting several,  the  physician  led  the  way  up  a 
flight  of  rickety  stairs,  and  said, — "This  is  a 
peculiarly  sad  case.  The  patient  inside  is  the 
last  of  his  family.  Two  sisters  have  died,  and 
he  is  at  the  point  of  death  with  the  same  disease, 
small-pox.  Come  in  and  pray  with  him."  The 
clergyman  no  sooner  heard  these  words  than  he 
bolted  down  stairs  like  a  bullet.  The  physician 
urged  him  to  do  his  duty,  and  see  his  patient, 
saying,  "Where  is  your  faith,  brother — where  is 
your  faith?"  But  the  clergyman,  as  he  shot  into 
the  street,  exclaimed,  "  Faith  or  no  faith,  I'll  get 
out  of  this;"  and  he  did.  There  was  no  patient 
there  :  it  was  a  practical  joke. 

The  way  from  Ullapool  to  Garve  is  through 
varied  and  fine  scenery.  The  first  eight  miles 
skirts  Loch  Broom,  a  narrow  arm  of  the  sea.  Pass- 
ing over  a  flat,  cultivated  country,  we  came  to  a 
steep  gorge  in  the  hills  by  the  side  of  which  the 
road  ascended  for  more  than  a  mile,  where  there 
was  a  broad  belt  of  flat  country  500  feet  above 
the  sea.  The  steep  slope  and  the  sides  of  the 
gorge  have  been  beautified  by  being  covered  with 
trees  of  various  kinds  by  the  proprietor.  Through 
the  narrow  ravine  runs  a  little  river.  Here  is  a 
very  lovely  waterfall  called  Corry  Halloch,  one  of 


2l6  MOUNTAINS  MADE  BEAUTIFUL. 

the  most  attractive  in  northern  Scotland.  For  a 
mile  the  steep  walls  of  rock  at  its  sides  rise  from 
the  water's  edge  150  to  200  feet.  The  owner  has 
thrown  a  bridge  across  the  deepest  cut,  w^hich 
commands  a  view  of  the  falls. 

From  this  elevation  the  ride  to  Garve  was 
through  a  comparatively  wild  and  barren  country. 
The  rugged  mountains  rose  abruptly  around  us, 
bare  and  treeless,  save  where  the  opulent  owners 
had  planted  the  Scotch  larch,  which  in  some 
localities  they  had  covered  to  their  summits.  The 
wet,  spongy,  boggy  moorlands  were  cut  up  with 
ditches  to  drain  them,  and  they  too  were  covered 
with  trees.  The  moors  and  the  mountains  are 
thus  arranged  for  game,  and  the  division  fences 
of  w^ire  are  plainly  visible  running  up  moun- 
tain sides  so  steep  that  it  seems  almost  impossi- 
ble for  man  to  climb  them.  There  are  opens 
where  not  a  tree  is  allowed  to  grow.  They  extend 
up  the  mountain,  and  there  the  sportsman  stands 
and  shoots  the  game  when  driven  from  cover 
across  this  unprotected  place  by  the  gamekeepers. 
Many  thousands  of  acres  of  once  bleak  mountains 
and  barren  moors  have  been  planted  with  trees, 
and  are  used  as  game  forests.  There  the  gentry 
of  England  and  Scodand  gather  for  their  holidays. 
Mr.  Winans,  of  Baltimore,  owns  or  leases  great 
tracts,  and  there  spends  his  summer  months. 

On    the  journey  we   reached   Loch   Druim,  or 
Rido-e  Loch,  and  for  some  distance  the  road  runs 


THE  MOUNTAIN  OF  STORMS.  217 

along  its  bank  and  then  touches  a  point  950  feet 
above  sea  level.     This  is  the  water-shed.     Here 
the  waters  divide,  one  portion  flowing  east  through 
Loch    Garve   into  the  German   ocean,  the    other 
flowing  westward  into  Loch  Broom  and  the  At- 
lantic.     In    that    land    of   storms    one    is    never 
secure  against  their  coming.     The  remainder  of 
the  journey  was   made   in   a  cold,  drizzling   rain, 
which    chilled    us    to    the    marrow.     Ben  Wyvis, 
"The  mountain  of  storms,"  was  before   us,  with 
the  heavy,  misty  clouds  hanging  and  drifting  about 
its  summit,  with  the  rain  beating  against  its  steep, 

rocky  sides. 

As  we  entered  Garve  at  4  p.  m.,  though  each 
passenger  had  paid  for  his  passage,  the  driver 
turned  around  with  the  words  "Driver's  fees!" 
and  levied  his  tribute  on  each  passenger.  We 
caught  the  evening  train  for  Inverness.  As  far 
as  Dingwall  the  road  led  through  a  romantic 
locality,  but  the  rest  of  the  distance  was  in  a 
rich  and  finely  cultivated  country.  At  6  the  train 
whirled  into  Inverness,  the  queen  of  the  High- 
lands.    I  registered  at  the  Station  hotel. 

There  is  an  excellent  public  library,  managed 
with  much  tact  and  ability.  The  librarian,  Mr. 
White,  is  a  most  genial,  interesting,  and  cour- 
teous gendeman,  with  whom  I  was  acquainted  by 
correspondence.  I  called  upon  him,  and  received 
a  most  hearty  welcome.  He  showed  me  every 
attention    at   the    library,  and    introduced   me   to 


10'' 


2l8  ON  THE  BATTLE-FIELD   OF  CULLODEN. 

Other  gentlemen.  I  also  met  Mr.  Alexander 
Mackenzie,  editor  and  publisher  of  the  "  Celtic 
Magazine,"  with  whom  I  had  previously  had  com- 
munication. Mr,  Mackenzie  was  a  member  of  the 
city  government,  and  conducted  me  over  their 
new  and  elegant  city  hall,  and  to  other  places  of 
interest. 

The  Scotch  people  walk  much  more  than  Amer- 
icans, and  think  nothing  of  a  pedestrian  tour  of 
ten  or  fifteen  miles.  On  the  sunny  afternoon  of 
May  25th  Mr.  White  and  I  started  for  a  walk,  the 
battle-field  of  Culloden,  six  miles  distant,  being 
the  objective  point.  Our  route  lay  over  a  pleasant 
road,  through  a  lovely,  fertile  country.  Shade- 
trees,  tall  and  stately,  lined  much  of  the  way. 
Ayrshire  cattle  and  fine  specimens  of  South  Down 
sheep  were  feeding  in  the  fields,  which  were  high 
with  grass  of  the  greenest  tint.  Our  way  over- 
looked the  Firth  of  Moray,  and  the  lofty,  snow- 
capped mountain  of  Ben  Wyvis  was  in  the  dis- 
tance. In  the  vicinity  of  "  Culloden's  dread  moor" 
are  the  houses  in  which  the  government  troops 
stabled  their  horses  the  night  before  the  battle. 
They  are  situated  in  a  pasture  which  was  com- 
pletely covered  with  luxuriant  whins.  These  are 
prickly  shrubs  or  plants  three  feet  high,  and  are 
indigenous  to  Ireland  and  Scotland.  They  were 
in  full  bloom,  the  whole  plot  of  ground  was 
brilliant  with  their  golden  colors,  and  they  were 
as  sweet  and  beautiful  as  the  choicest  garden  of 
flowers. 


BURIAL-PLACE   OF  THE   CLANS.  219 

The  battle  was  fought  April  i6,  1746,  and 
on  this  field  was  decided  the  fate  of  the  House 
of  Stuart :  it  forever  expelled  them  from  the 
throne  of  Britain.  Prince  Charlie  and  his  High- 
land clans  were  defeated  by  the  government  troops. 
This  was  the  last  battle  fought  on  Scotch  soil. 
The  Highlanders  were  marshalled  by  clans,  they 
fought  by  clans,  they  were  swept  down  bodily  and 
died  by  clans,  and  on  the  bleak,  sterile  land  of 
Culloden  moor  they  are  buried  by  clans.  Strange 
as  it  may  seem,  one  can  distinctly  see  as  clearly 
as  if  drawn  out  on  paper  the  exact  spots  where 
the  different  clans  stood,  and  fell,  and  died,  and 
where  they  lie  buried.  One  hundred  and  thirt)- 
eight  years  of  sunshine  and  storms  had  come  and 
gone  since  that  terrible  day.  For  one  hundred 
and  thirty-eight  years  the  grass  had  stirred  in  the 
breezes  above  them ;  and  yet  on  that  spring  day 
their  last  resting-place  was  green,  while  all  about 
them  was  the  dark  brown  heather.  Half  a  mile 
beyond  is  a  boulder,  rising  six  feet  above  the 
ground  and  some  sixteen  feet  across.  On  this 
rock  stood  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  and  directed 
the  movements  of  the  government  forces.  There 
are  headstones  showinor  where  the  members  of 
each  clan  are  buried.  One  is  marked  Clan  Cam- 
eron, another  Clan  Mackintosh,  another  Clan 
Mackenzie,  and  one  is  marked  Mixed  Clans. 
The  battle  was  badly  managed  on  the  part  of  the 
Highlanders,  and  the  lives  of  hundreds  of  brave 


220  THE    TYPICAL   CELT. 

Scots  were  thrown  away  on  account  of  the  im- 
becility of  Prince  Charlie.  A  hugh  cairn  of  stones 
some  twenty  feet  high  stands  on  another  part  of 
the  field. 

"  Oh  !  loud  and  long  heard  shall  their  coronach  be, 
And  high  o'er  the  heather  their  cairn  we  shall  see." 

One  can  find  in  no  other  city  in  Scotland  so 
perfect  a  representation  of  the  ancient  clans  as  he 
will  see  in  Inverness.  In  the  city  directory  there 
are  several  pages  of  a  single  clan  name,  like  the 
Macdonalds,  the  Mackintoshes,  and  the  Macken- 
zies.  It  was  at  one  of  their  weekly  market  days 
that  I  saw  the  typical  Celt,  with  red  hair,  red 
beard,  high  cheek  bones,  and  freckled  face.  They 
are  far  from  being  amiable  looking  men.  Their 
looks  and  manners  show  them  to  be  sharp,  fiery, 
and  quick-tempered.  As  one  goes  among  the 
crowds  he  will  be  greatly  amused  and  edified 
at  what  he  sees  and  hears,  and  can  select  by  the 
score  Celts  of  the  type  described.  All  manner  of 
merchandise  is  bought  and  sold,  and  the  native 
bard  sells  his  mental  productions. 

Inverness  is  a  jewel  of  the  far  north,  and  con- 
tains 20,000  people.  It  lies  at  the  mouth  of  and 
on  the  river  Ness,  which  flows  placidly  over  a 
smooth,  pebbly  bottom,  through  the  centre  of  the 
city,  and  is  spanned  by  fine  bridges.  The  city 
has  its  castle,  its  cathedral,  and  many  other  at- 
tractive places.     My  stay  was  made  delightful  by 


THROUGH  THE   CALEDONIAN  CANAL.  221 

the  great  kindness  shown  me  by  the  persons  pre- 
viously mentioned,  and  others. 

A  lady  said  to  me, —  "Don't  fail  to  go  through 
the  Caledonian  canal.  When  you  have  passed 
its  entire  length  and  seen  its  beauties,  you  will  be 
thankful  that  you  have  lived."  It  connects  In- 
verness Firth  with  Loch  Dochfour,  the  latter  with 
Loch  Ness  (Lake  of  the  Cataract),  this  with  Loch 
Oichy,  the  latter  with  Loch  Lochy,  and  this  with 
Locheil  or  Loch  Linnhe,  which  in  conjunction  with 
the  Crinan  canal,  eight  miles  in  length,  which 
unites  Loch  Crinan  or  Sound  of  Jura  with  Loch 
Fyne,  furnishes  an  uninterrupted  water  communi- 
cation between  Inverness  and  Glasgow,  and  cuts 
Scotland  in  two. 

On  May  26th,  at  7  o'clock  a.  m.,  at  Muirtown, 
an  outskirt  of  Inverness,  I  went  on  board  the 
steamer  to  make  this  journey,  which  occupied  two 
days.  There  can  be  but  few  routes  on  the  planet 
of  equal  distance  which  exhibit  so  many  lovely 
places  as  this.  The  scenery  was  most  charming, 
which  one  must  see  in  order  to  appreciate.  The 
lakes,  the  graceful  windings  of  the  canal  through 
green  fields  or  through  groves  of  Scotch  firs,  the 
high  mountains,  the  remains  of  old  castles  which 
nestled  at  the  base  of  the  steep  declivities  or  near 
the  waters  of  lakes,  combined  to  make  the  journey 
of  wonderful  interest.  We  were  two  hours  pass- 
ing through  the  seven  locks,  which  are  remarkable. 
We  halted  at  Foyers,  which  gave  the  passengers 


222  IN  THE   GLEN  OF   WEEPING. 

an  opportunity  to  see  the  Falls  of  Foyers,  which 
have  a  perpendicular  descent  of  two  hundred  feet, 
and  are  very  noted.  Passing  Ben  Nevis,  we 
reached  Ballachulish  at  5  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

I  registered  at  the  nearest  hotel,  and  secured 
a  horse  and  "  machine"  with  driver  to  take  me 
through  the  noted  Pass  of  Glencoe.  The  horse 
engaged  was  to  be  a  good  driver,  and  the  guide 
was  to  be  intelligent,  and  capable  of  speaking  good 
English.  The  horse  furnished  me  by  this  high- 
toned  Scotch  hotel  proprietor  was  poor  and  lame; 
the  "machine,"  a  two-wheeled  vehicle,  was  un- 
comfortable; and  the  driver  was  ignorant,  and 
spoke  such  broken  English  that  his  speech  was 
hardly  intelligible.  Thus  the  journey  was  made.  I 
was  now  in  the  celebrated  Pass  of  Glencoe,  which 
means  in  the  Gaelic  tongue  "Glen  of  weeping." 
Well  is  it  termed  the  "Glen  of  weeping,"  for  it 
was  a  vale  of  sorrow,  and  a  melancholy  interest 
will  ever  linger  around  this  wild  and  gloomy  pass 
in  the  district  of  Lome  in  the  county  of  Argyle. 
Here  occurred  the  fearful  massacre  of  the  Mac- 
donalds,  February  13,  1692,  by  which  it  was  in- 
tended to  exterminate  this  portion  of  the  clan. 

King  James  II  had  been  driven  from  the  throne 
of  England  by  his  son-in-law,  William  Prince  of 
Orange.  The  contest  had  stirred  England,  Ire- 
land, and  Scotland  to  their  deepest  depths.  At 
this  date  peacefulness  rested  not  upon  the  polit- 
ical waters.     The  billows  of  the  surging,  seething 


THE  SORROWING   CHIEF  OF  GLENCOE.  222, 

political  sea  were  still  breaking  angrily  upon  the 
shore.  The  heroic  defence  of  Londonderry,  Ire- 
land, in  1688-89,  ^"'^.d  been  successful,  but  certain 
Hio-hland  clans  had  not  sfiven  in  their  adherence 
to  the  new  o-overnment. 

On  the  27th  of  August,  1691,  a  proclamation 
was  issued  offering  indemnity  to  all  who  were 
then  or  who  had  been  in  arms  against  William  of 
Orange,  provided  they  would  take  the  oath  of 
allegiance  before  January  i,  1692,  subject  to  the 
pain  of  death  after  that  date.  The  various  chiefs 
took  the  oath,  but  the  Glencoe  chieftain  delayed, 
not  so  much  out  of  hatred  to  King  William  as  on 
account  of  a  quarrel  with  the  Earl  of  Breadalbane, 
who  was  a  personal  foe.  Repenting  of  his  obsti- 
nacy, on  December  3 1  he  appeared  at  Ft.  Will- 
iam for  that  purpose,  but  the  officer  declined  to 
administer  it,  claiming  no  authority.  Then  the 
sorrowing  chief  hastened  across  the  almost  im- 
passable mountains,  covered  as  they  were  with 
snow,  to  the  sheriff  of  Argyle  at  Inverary,  who 
administered  the  oath  to  him  and  his  attendants, 
January  6,  1692.  As  the  time  for  receiving  the 
oath  of  allegiance  had  expired  before  his  was 
taken,  by  the  misrepresentations  of  Breadalbane, 
as  it  is  claimed,  to  King  William,  he  signed  the 
order  for  the  government  troops  to  wipe  out  and 
extirpate  the  clan.  They  came  in  the  guise  of 
friendship,  and  were  treated  with  hospitality.  On 
the  morning  of  February  13,  1692,  they  stealthily 


224  A  SCENE   OF   WOE. 

massacred  as  many  of  their  entertainers  as  they 
could  reach.  Many  were  slain,  some  fled  to 
the  hills.  Their  houses  were  burned  down,  their 
stock  driven  away,  and  the  women  and  children, 
who  escaped  the  sword  as  they  fled  to  the  moun- 
tains for  safety,  were  overcome  with  fatigue  and 
hunger  and  cold,  and  perished  pitifully  in  the  deep 
snows  on  the  mountain  sides.  Such  is  a  brief 
history  of  this  event.  The  place  had  a  wonderful 
interest  to  me,  as  some  persons  in  New  Hamp- 
shire are  descendants  of  people  who  perished 
that  fateful  day. 

We  entered  Ballachulish,  where  are  the  slate 
quarries  which  have  been  worked  for  a  century  or 
more.  The  village  is  inhabited  by  miners,  on  a 
long,  continuous,  winding  street.  The  habita- 
tions were  cheap,  but  cleanly.  Going  through 
this,  we  entered  the  Pass  of  Glencoe.  The  open- 
ing was  beautifully  green  with  trees.  The  cot- 
tages were  scattered  about  the  valley,  and  the  cat- 
tle and  sheep  grazed  through  it  and  up  the  steep 
mountain  sides  as  far  as  vegetation  reached.  The 
Cona,  a  little,  shallow  stream,  was  flowing  along 
over  its  pebbly  bed  through  the  ravine,  chanting 
the  sweet  song  of  running  waters.  We  entered 
the  wildest  part  of  this  glorious  valley.  There 
were  the  stern,  precipitous  mountains  which  on 
either  side  reared  their  mighty  forms  from  two  to 
three  thousand  feet.  Their  peaks  were  of  a  crim- 
son hue,  lighted  up,  as  they  were,  by  the  afternoon 


OLD   HOMES  OF   THE  MACDONALDS.  225 

sun.  No  living  beings  moved  about  those  solitary 
hills.  No  signs  of  present  habitation  were  there. 
Half  way  along  the  pass  are  trees  and  heaps  of 
stones,  which  mark  the  walls  of  houses  once  the 
homes  of  the  murdered  Macdonalds.  They  tell  the 
story  of  man's  inhumanity  to  man.  They  give  evi- 
dence to  every  passer  by  of  that  morn  of  lamen- 
tation, and  cry  into  living  ears  the  bloody  tale  of 
treachery,  murder,  and  woe. 

More  than  a  thousand  feet  above  us  on  the 
mountain  side  is  Ossian's  Cave,  where,  they  tell 
us,  the  poet  lived.  All  along  the  valley  the  vio- 
lence of  the  torrents  rushing  down  the  sides  of 
the  mountains  have  made  huge  gullies,  and 
brought  down  great  quantities  of  stones,  sweep- 
ing across  the  highway,  making  the  travelling 
anything  but  pleasant.  We  went  eight  miles  up 
through  this  romantic  vale.  On  our  return  to 
Ballachulish,  as  we  emerged  from  the  pass,  the 
sun  had  sunk  behind  the  hills,  the  shades  of  night 
were  falling  rapidly  over  the  silent  mountains, 
while  the  deep  recesses  in  that  "Glen  of  weep- 
ing" were  wrapped  in  a  mande  of  deeper  dark- 
ness. From  the  hotel  there  was  a  view  of  the 
waters  of  Loch  Leven. 

On  the  morrow  the  journey  was  resumed  by 
boat  to  Glasgow.  At  Crinan,  on  the  Sound  of 
Jura,  we  entered  a  small  boat,  whose  sides  almost 
grazed  the  rocky  shores  as  it  went  through  the 
Crinan  canal.     The  latter  is  nine  miles  in  length, 


226  AGAIN  IN  GLASGOW. 

with   fifteen   locks,  and  was  built  to  avoid  a  cir- 
cuitous voyage  of  seventy  miles  around  the  mull 
of  Cantyre;  commenced  in    1793,  and  opened  in 
1801.     Its  rocky  sides  attest  the  enormous  labor 
and  cost  of  its  construction.     The  terminus  is  at 
Andrishaig  on  Loch  Fyne.     Taking  a  large  steam- 
er,   we    passed    through     Loch    Fyne,    near    the 
Island  of  Bute,  and  north  of  Arran,  entering  the 
Firth  of  Clyde,  and  steaming  over  its  placid  wa- 
ters, amid  fine  scenery  we  entered  the  river  Clyde. 
From  Andrishaig  to  Glasgow  we  stopped  at  Tar- 
bet,   Rothesay,   Inellan,   Dunoon,   and   Greenock, 
and  before  sunset  had   reached  the  pier  amidst 
the  shipping  of  the  great  city  of  Glasgow.     I  was 
once  more  on  familiar  ground,  and  again  found 
comfortable  quarters  in  St.  Enoch's  hotel,  after  a 
month's  absence.     On  the  hotel  register  was  the 
name  of  an  acquaintance  from  Buffalo,  who  had 
left    the    day  previous.     It  was    more    than    two 
weeks   since    I   left   Edinburgh,  and   during   that 
time  had  received  no  mail  from  home.     It  missed 
me  at  Inverness,  at  Oban,  and  it  was  impossible 
for   me  to  get  it  till   I   reached   London.     I  was 
hungry  for  American  news,  as  British  papers  give 
only  the  most  meagre  accounts. 

It  would  be  a  crime  to  be  in  Scotland  and  not 
visit  the  Scottish  lakes.  On  the  morning  of 
Wednesday,  May  28,  I  started  from  Queen's  sta- 
tion for  Loch  Lomond,  Loch  Katrine,  the  Trossachs, 
and  to  return  to  Glasgow  via  Callander.     Passing 


o 


< 

P 

*_■ 

o 


ox  BEN  LOMOiVD.  22/ 

out  of  Glasgow  through  Dumbarton,  we  took  the 
steamer  at  Balloch  to  .cross  Loch  Lomond.  The 
sun  broke  through  the  heavy  morning  mists, 
and  the  day  became  clear.  The  scenery  around 
this  lake  is  wild  and  grand.  Its  length  is  twenty- 
three  miles,  and  it  is  studded  with  numerous 
islands.  Rowardennan  lies  at  the  base  of  Ben 
Lomond.  The  mountain  loomed  up  before  us 
most  invitingly  and  majestically,  and  I  determined 
to  visit  the  summit.  Two  gentlemen  from  London 
were  to  accompany  me,  and  we  started  for  the 
peak  seven  miles  away. 

Mountain  distances  are  deceptive.  It  looked 
but  a  short  distance  to  the  top.  Mountain  peak 
lapped  on  mountain  peak  and  hid  the  intervening 
distances,  which  must  be  passed  before  the  last 
great  summit  was  gained.  It  would  have  been 
well  had  we  then  known  and  heeded  the  advice 
contained  in  the  following  lines: 

"  Trust  not  at  first  a  quick  adventurous  pace ; 
Seven  miles  its  top  points  gradual  from  its  base. 
Up  the  high  rise  with  panting  haste  I  passed, 
And  gained  the  long,  laborious  steep  at  last." 

We  intended  to  return  in  time  to  take  the  suc- 
ceeding boat,  but  found  this  impossible.  When 
two  thirds  of  the  distance  had  been  accomplished, 
my  comrades  left  me  and  returned  to  the  landing. 
My  journey  was  continued  alone.  Having  started 
for  the  summit,  the  summit  I  was  determined  to 
reach  "if  it  took  all  summer."     At  last  I  stood  on 


228      ON  THE  SHORES  OF  LOCH  LOMOND. 

the  topmost  peak,  3,192  feet  high.  The  day  was 
clear,  the  sun  shone  brightly,  and  the  prospect  in 
all  directions  was  very  beautiful.  Mountains  reared 
their  peaks  beneath  me.  I  could  look  down  upon 
their  tops;  and  in  one  place  a  lovely  little  lake 
nestled  between  their  summits.  In  the  west  were 
the  Argyleshire  hills  and  the  Grampian  moun- 
tains, and  in  the  great  distance  beneath  me,  south 
and  east,  were  the  fine  Lowland  country  and  its  less- 
er elevations.  Most  beautiful  was  Loch  Lomond, 
as  it  wound  amono-  the  hills,  its  waters  as  blue 
as  the  sky,  and  its  surface  studded  with  islands. 
Steamers  could  be  seen  as  they  ploughed  across 
it.  Gathering  some  specimens  of  quartz,  and  pro- 
curing some  snow  from  a  cool,  sequestered  nook, 
I  returned  to  the  hotel.  The  descent  was  fatigu- 
ing, and  the  journey  made  quickly  was  calculated 
to  greatly  test  one's  powers  of  endurance. 

There  are  cosey  resorts  on  the  shores  of  the 
lake,  where  the  water  breaks  gently  over  the 
sands  and  stones  of  the  beach.  I  wandered  along 
the  bank  till  darkness  was  upon  Ben  Lomond, 
when  I  sought  my  room.  With  memories  of  the 
past  in  my  mind,  with  the  sound  of  the  gentle 
splash  of  the  waves  in  my  ears,  and  the  twinkling 
stars  looking  in  at  my  chamber  windows,  I  fell 
asleep. 

The  following  day  took  the  boat  to  Inversnaid. 
Before  reaching  Tarbet  we  saw  Rob  Roy's  cave, 
situated  in  the  cliff  some  distance  above  the  water. 


AMID    THE  HAUNTS  OF  ROB  ROY.  229 

Inversnaid  was  reached,  when  I  took  the  coach  for 
Loch  Katrine,  eight  miles  away.  The  road  led 
me  through  the  old  home  of  the  MacGregors, 
and  places  were  pointed  out  as  the  home  of  Rob 
Roy  and  the  birth-place  of  Helen  MacGregor,  his 
wife.  This  locality  was  the  scene  of  many  of  the 
exploits  of  the  noted  chief. 

MacGreofor  is  the  name  of  a  clan  considered 
one  of  the  purest  of  all  the  Celtic  tribes,  "and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  of  their  unmixed  and  direct 
descent  from  the  Albanich  or  Alpinian  stock,  which 
formed  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  Scotland." 
They  claimed  a  kingly  origin,  and  their  ancient 
motto  was,  "My  race  is  royal."  Glen  Orchy  is 
claimed  as  their  original  home.  They  were  also 
numerous  in  Monteith  and  in  Balquhidder.  The 
latter  place  is  north-east  of  Loch  Lomond.  An 
air  of  romance  clings  to  this  clan,  mostly  because 
of  their  relentless  persecution  by  the  government. 
The  clan  was  proscribed.  They  were  compelled 
by  an  act  of  the  privy  council,  April  3,  1693,  on 
pain  of  death,  to  adopt  another  surname,  and  por- 
tions of  the  clan  were  prohibited  from  carrying  any 
weapons  save  a  knife  without  a  point, 

Rob  Roy  was  of  the  Glenfyle  branch  of  the 
family.  This  place  is  situated  a  few  miles  north 
of  Inversnaid.  We  rode  through  this  mountain- 
ous country,  their  former  home,  and  once  densely 
populated  by  the  MacGregors,  where  the  chief 
could,  by  the  blast  of  his  horn  or  the  music  of  his 


230        EARLY  HOME  OF  THE  CLAN  MACGREGOR. 

bagpipes,  rally  a  hundred  brave  men  about  him  on 
short  notice.  All  is  changed.  Nothing  can  now 
be  heard  save  the  bleating  of  sheep,  and  the  only 
habitations  visible  are  the  gamekeepers'  lodges,  or 
the  homes  of  those  who  tend  the  flocks  of  sheep 
or  herds  of  cattle.  Silence  reigns  there,  so  far  as 
human  beings  are  concerned,  and  the  numerous 
tumble-down  cottages  of  ancient  cottagers  tell  the 
story  of  the  oppression  of  the  landlords,  who  de- 
populated the  district,  clearing  ofl"  the  people  en 
masse,  compelling  them  to  emigrate  to  America  or 
to  the  cities,  and  converted  their  lands  into  game 
forests  or  sheep  farms.  This  recalls  the  couplet 
of  John  Bright: 

"  In  Highland  glens  't  is  far  too  oft  observed 
That  man  is  chased  away  and  game  preserved." 

We  neared  another  lake  made  famous  by  Scott 
in  "The  Lady  of  the  Lake."  From  a  high  hill,  in 
the  slightly  changed  words  of  the  poem, — 

"Where,  gleaming  with  the  shining  sun, 
One  burnished  sheet  of  living  gold, 
Loch  Katrine  lay,  beneath  us  rolled." 

Our  eyes  feasted  upon  the  lovely  lake,  which  is 
more  romantic  than  Loch  Lomond,  and  surpassing 
any  that  I  saw  in  Scotland.  At  Stronachlachar 
we  passed  from  the  fine  hotel  on  to  the  tiny 
steamer  which  bore  us  across  the  lake,  which 
makes  several  tours  each  day.     The  lake  is  nar- 


ON  LOCH  KATRINE.  23  I 

row,  and  most  lovely  in  its  surroundings.  We 
passed  the  entire  length  and  close  to  "Ellen's 
Isle," — 

"  Where  for  retreat  in  dangerous  hour 
Some  chief  had  framed  a  rustic  bower." 

It  is  a  small,  rocky  island,  but  picturesque,  and 
covered  with  shrubbery.  Mountains  were  about 
us.  Be.n  Venue  in  the  south  towered  2,393  f^^t 
into  the  sky.  Alighting  at  the 
romantic  rustic  pier  and  covered 
walk,  we  took  the  four-horse  coach 
in  waiting  to  carry  us  through 
the  Trossachs.  This  word  means 
bristled  territory,  and  is  a  wild, 
mountainous  section  of  great  beauty.  The  high 
hills  kept  their  sentinel  guard  above  and  around 
us,  till  we  reached  and  dined  at  the  elegant  Tros- 
sachs hotel,  which  commands  a  fine  view  of  that 
region.  The  Trossachs  are  very  pleasing,  but 
there  is  not  that  extreme  ruggedness  and  grand- 
eur, and  the  towering  precipitous  mountains,  which 
are  seen  in  some  localities.  Passing  out  of  the 
bristled  territory,  we  went  along  the  shores  of 
Loch  Achray,  a  peaceful  lake,  and  soon  rode  over 
the  old  and  famous  Brigg  of  Turk,  spoken  of  in 
the  lines, — 

"  And  when  the  Brigg  of  Turk  was  won, 
The  headmost  horseman  rode  alone." 

There  is  Loch  Vennachar,  five  miles  in  length, 
and  then  the  river  Firth,  which  flows  from  it.     To 


232 


THROUGH  THE    TROSSACHS. 


the  south  was  pointed  out  the  locaHty  of  Coilan- 
tangle  Ford,  where  Roderick  Dhu  challenged  Fitz- 
James  to  combat. 

"  See,  here  all  vantageless  I  stand, 
Armed  like  thyself  with  single  brand ; 
For  this  is  Coilantangle  Ford, 
And  thou  must  keep  thee  by  thy  sword." 

On  a  height  near  the  road  are  the  remains  of 
an  ancient  British  fort.  Then  we  entered  Callan- 
der.    The  whole  route  had  been  all  that  could  be 

desired.     The  scen- 


ery was  fine,  the  ter- 
ritory was  historic. 
American  scenery 
may  be  as  beautiful, 
but  it  lacks  history. 
It  lacks  the  great 
binding  power  of 
thrillinor  associa- 
tions.  On  reaching 
St.  Enoch's  hotel  at 
Glasgow,  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  meeting 
C.   Cheney   and   family,  of 


with  Ex-Governor  P 
New  Hampshire. 

On  May  30th  I  left  Glasgow  for  England.  Kil- 
marnock was  the  first  important  town  reached. 
Here  it  was  that  the  bright  Scotch  girl  said  she 
couldn't  "see  what  it  was  that  made  her  brother 
think  so  much  of  the  lassies."     For  her  part,  she 


EARLIEST  HOME   OF  THE  BOYDS.  233 

"would  rather  have  one  good  man  than  all  the 
lassies  in  Kilmarnock  !" 

It  was  the  earliest  mentioned  home  of  the  Boyd 
family,  now  so  numerous  in  Scotland,  Ireland,  and 
America.  Robert  Boyd,  of  Kilmarnock,  who  died 
before  1240,  is  the  ancestor  of  the  various  fami- 
lies of  that  name.  King  Robert  Bruce  granted 
the  lands  of  Kilmarnock,  Bodington,  and  others, 
to  his  firm  adherent.  Sir  Robert  Boyd,  ancestor 
of  the  Earls  of  Kilmarnock.  The  Boyds  of  Pinkhill, 
of  Trochrig,  were  descended  from  Adam,  son  of 
Alexander,  and  son  of  Lord  Robert  Boyd,  cham- 
berlain of  Scotland  in  the  minority  of  James  III. 
Near  the  city  of  Kilmarnock  is  an  ancient  ivy- 
covered  castle  of  the  Boyds,  which  is  of  much 
interest. 

Farther  south  is  Dumfries,  where  died  and  is 
buried  Robert  Burns.  Then  the  "Debatable 
Land"  was  reached,  then  the  green  fields  of  Eng- 
land. 

Among  the  saddest  things  in  life  are  thwarted 
plans,  sweet  dreams  that  are  never  realized,  fondly 
cherished  hopes  that  never  attain  fulfilment.  It 
had  always  been  my  desire  to  visit  Scotland. 
This  dream  came  true,  the  hope  was  realized,  the 
expectation  of  enjoyment  and  intellectual  profit 
had  been  fulfilled.  1  had  journeyed  many  hun- 
dred miles  from  the  south  to  the  north,  from  the 
west  to  the  east,  from  the  east  to  the  west,  and 
from  the  surf-beaten  shores  of  the  Hebrides  to  the 


234 


FAREWELL    TO  SCOTLAND. 


English   border   again ;    had   crossed    her   lovely 
lakes,  sailed  about  her  ocean-beaten  coasts,  roamed 
among  her  mountains,  and  mused  on  lofty  sum- 
mits ;  had    trod    her    batde-fields,  visited    places 
sacred  forever  as  the  homes  of  many  of  her  noblest 
and  truest  children,  and  stood  by  the  places  where 
their  bodies  repose  in  dreamless  sleep.     The  hour 
was  at  hand  which  would  bring  this  journey  to 
a  close;  the   moment  drew  nigh  when  the  visit 
would  belong  to  memory  alone.     When  the  after- 
noon sun  sank  in  the  west,  her  historic  places  and 
mountain  peaks  faded  from  my  view,  and  I  ceased 
to  breathe  the  bracing  air  of  the  land  of  my  an- 
cestors. 

The  Scotch  are  a  noble  people.  Life  is  deep 
and  rich  with  them.  It  has  a  meaning  and  a 
reality.  Would  that  it  were  broader!  They  have 
faults  and  foibles,  but  in  spite  of  them  and  with 
them  all,  I  love  the  Scotch  people  still — and  dear 
old  Scotland !  May  the  choicest,  richest  blessings 
rest  upon  her  and  them ! 


[See  page  i8i.] 


CHAPTER   X. 

ENGLAND. 

"  This  precious  stone  set  in  the  silver  sea." 

"  All  the  fields 
Are  tied  up  fast  with  hedges,     *    * 
The  hills  are  crumpled  plains,  the  plains  pastures. 
And  if  you  seek  for  any  wilderness. 
You  find  at  best  a  park. 


.1.  " 


M  AND  of  lands,  how  beautiful  Is  England !    In 
m  the   "Land  of  the  Angles"  has  been   a  rich 
and  varied  life.     In  spite  of  errors  and  grave  de- 
fects of  its  governments,  its  people  have  for  cen- 
turies been  rising  to  a  nobler  plane  of  life  and 
thought,  and  to  a  truer  liberty.     There  originated 
the    English   constitution,  upon   which   all   other 
free'  ones  are  founded.     There  rulers  were  com- 
pelled to  hear  the  voice  of  the  people,  and  grant 
their  reluctant  consent  to  the  demand  for  greater 
rights   and  broader   privileges.      Its  literature   is 
rich  with  the  eloquence  of  her  sons,  the  songs  of 
her  poets,  and  the  glowing  pages  of  her  historians. 
To  the  tourist  England   seems   gready  unlike 
Scotland.     Its  annals  are  different.     It  is  not  a 


236  HOME   OF  THE  MUSGRAVES. 

locality  of  clans,  and  different  associations  cling  to 
her  cities  and  towns.     The  change  from  the 

"  Land  of  brown  heath  and  shaggy  wood  " 

to  the  green  verdure  of  England  was  pleasing. 
The  farther  south  I  travelled  the  more  apparent 
became  the  approach  of  spring.  The  grass  bore 
a  greener  tint  and  the  trees  a  denser  foliage.  The 
great  mountain  ranges  had  vanished,  and  lesser 
ones  were  near.  There  were  peace  and  quietness, 
and  in  close  proximity  were  the  greenness  of  a 
beautiful  country  and  the  loveliness  of  the  English 
lakes. 

The  unattractive,  seedy  city  of  Carlisle,  with  its 
old  castle,  or  the  remains  of  one,  was  the  first 
place  of  importance  visited.  Then  I  reached  Pen- 
rith, eight  miles  farther  south.  It  is  an  ancient 
place  of  eight  thousand  people,  and  is  in  the 
southern  portion  of  the  county  of  Cumberland. 
A  castle,  beautiful  in  its  ruins,  overlooks  the  town, 
and  adds  to  its  interest.  Brougham  hall,  the  seat 
of  the  late  Lord  Brougham,  is  a  mile  and  a  half 
away.  In  the  vicinity  is  Eden  hall,  on  the  river 
Eden,  the  seat  of  the  border  family  of  Musgraves, 
who  came  to  England  with  William  the  Conqueror. 

Keswick,  on  the  river  Greta,  is  an  interesting 
town.  The  Skiddaw  mountain  keeps  guard  about 
it.  On  an  eminence  is  Greta  hall,  noted  as  being 
the  home  of  Robert  Southey,  the  poet  laureate. 
He  was  born  at  Bedminster,  near  Bristol,  Aug. 
12,   1774,  was  appointed  poet  laureate  in   18 13, 


AT  THE  ENGLISH  LAKES.  23/ 

and  died  at  Keswick  March  21,  1843.  This  whole 
region  abounds  with  lovely  scenery,  and  perhaps 
in  all  England  there  is  no  locality,  of  so  small  a 
space,  which  has  been  honored  by  being  the  home 
of  such  a  galaxy  of  persons  of  genius.  Here  lived 
Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge,  the  great  prodigal  of 
the  richest  gifts.  He  was  born  at  Ottery,  St. 
Mary,  county  of  Devon,  Oct.  21,  1772,  and  re- 
moved to  Keswick  about  1800.  In  1808  or  1809 
he  left  his  family  to  be  cared  for  by  his  friend 
Southey,  and  went  to  live  with  Wordsworth  at 
Grasmere.  In  18 10  he  left  the  Lake  Country 
forever,  and  died  at  the  house  of  his  friend,  Mr. 
Gilman,  at  Highgate,  London,  July  25,  1834. 

"  He  flung  away 
Those  keys  that  might  have  open  set 

The  golden  sluices  of  the  day, 
But  clutched  the  keys  of  darkness  yet." 

From  Keswick  I  took  the  grand  coach  drive 
over  Dunmail  Raise  Pass  to  Windermere,  a  dis- 
tance of  twenty-two  miles.  It  is  one  of  the  finest 
drives  in  northern  England,  and  was  the  most 
enjoyable  one  to  me.  The  day  was  perfect:  no 
lovelier  one  ever  dawned  upon  the  earth.  The 
whole  way  was  filled  with  scenes  of  beauty  and 
associations  of  the  past.  My  travelling  compan- 
ions were  all  that  could  be  desired.  71iey  con- 
sisted of  a  gentleman  and  his  wife  from  Leeds, 
who  occupied  the  forward  seat  with  the  driver, 
and  four  highly  intelligent  young  ladies,  two  from 


238  DER  WEN  TWA  TEE. 

London  and  two  from  Glasgow.  It  may  with  pro- 
priety be  added  that  the  presence  of  these  latter 
did  not  detract  at  all  from  my  pleasure  in  the  ride. 
The  remainder  of  the  coach  was  filled  with  tran- 
sient passengers  and  baggage. 

We  left  Keswick,  with  coach  and  four  horses,  in 
the  early  morning,  and  as  we  were  driven  rapidly 
through  the  narrow  streets,  from  hotel  to  hotel, 
the  driver  merrily  sounded  his  horn.  How  odd 
were  the  names  of  inns  !  There  were  "The  Fish," 
"Dog  and  Duck,"  ''Fighting  Cocks,"  "Deer- 
hound,"  "Pig  and  Whistle,"  "Red  Lion,"  "Black 
Lion,"  "Elephant  and  Castle,"  "Lamb  and  Lark," 
and  I  know  not  how  many  more. 

We  drove  through  narrow  streets,  and  through 
the  market-place, — which  even  at  that  early  hour 
was  filled  with  the  people  from  the  country,  with 
their  produce,  who  were  chaffering  with  the  buy- 
ers,— out  of  the  village,  over  a  road  as  perfect 
as  could  be  made,  to  the  top  of  a  hill  overlooking 
Keswick  lake,  or  Derwentwater,  as  it  is  oftener 
called.  This  lake  is  three  and  a  half  miles  long 
and  perhaps  half  as  broad.  It  is  beautifully  situ- 
ated, being  surrounded  by  high  hills. 

The  eentleman  from  Leeds  was  a  travelled  man 
and  very  intelligent.  Unlike  many  Britons,  he 
was  thoroughly  informed  on  matters  outside  of  his 
own  affairs,  city  or  country,  and  was  familiar  with 
our  system  of  government,  with  politics  in  the 
United  States,  and  with  our  public  men.     He  was 


BEAUTIES  OF  GRASMERE. 


239 


more  like  an  American  than  like  an  Englishman. 
He  was  a  jolly  man,  and  a  wit  withal,  and  we 
owed  it  to  him  that  our  ride  was  so  enjoyable. 
He  talked  to  all  of  us,  and  his  mirth  was  so  con- 
tagious that  many  a  merry  laugh  did  we  have 
during  the  famous  ride.  All  were  in  the  best  of 
humor,  and  there  was  the  freedom  of  old  acquaint- 
anceship. 

The  route  lay  by  the   valley  of  St.  John  and 
Thirlemere   lake,  over  Dunmail  Raise  Pass,  at   a 
height  of  720  feet.     From  the  hill  the  village  of 
Grasmere,  with  all  its  varied  beauties,  was  spread 
out  beneath  us.     At  a  point  noted  for  its  echoes, 
the  driver  gave  a  few  blasts  upon  his  bugle-horn, 
which  awoke  answering  responses  in  the  slumber- 
ing   mountains.     From    this   place   was    an    easy 
descent    to    the   village. 
Thirlemere  lake    is  only 
a    mile    and    a    third    in 
leneth,  and  a  third  of  a 
mile  in  breadth,  with  an 
island  in  its  centre. 

Grasmere  won  my 
heart.  Such  greenness, 
quietness,  and  beauty 
surround  the  village, 
lake,  and  encircling  hills  ! 
to  the  locality. 


William  Wordsworth. 

Sweet  memories  cling 


"  O  vale  and  lake,  within  youv  mountain  well, 
Smiling  so  tranquilly  and  set  so  deep  !" 

It  has  been  immortalized  by  genius. 


240 


WORDSWORTH'S  HOME. 


Late  in  the  year  1799,  William  Wordsworth, 
with  his  sister,  took  up  his  residence — which  was 
to  be  lifelong — among  the  mountains  and  lakes  of 
his  native  district,  and  setded  at  Grasmere,  in  a 
small  cottage  which  overlooked  the  lake.  This 
was  his  happy  home  for  eight  years,  when  he 
removed  to  Allan  Bank,  at  the  head  of  the  lake, 
which  was  his  abode  for  three  years.  In  the 
spring  of  18 13  he  moved  to  Rydal  Mount,  two 
miles  away,  where  he  resided  till  his  death,  thirty- 
seven  years  later. 

From  that  litde  cottage  at  Grasmere  many  of 
his  poems  went  forth  to  the  world.  To  it,  in 
October,  1802,  he  brought,  as  his  bride,  from 
Penrith,  the  bright  companion  of  his  early  life, 
Mary  Hutchinson, — 

"A  perfect  woman,  nobly  planned 
To  warn,  to  comfort,  and  command." 

For  many  years  the  most  endearing  relationship 
existed  between  him  and  his  sister  Dorothy,  to 
whom  he  owed  so  much.  His  allusion  to  her  is 
very  touching: 

"  She  gave  me  eyes,  she  gave  me  ears, 
And  humble  cares  and  delicate  fears, 
A  heart,  the  fountain  of  sweet  tears, 
And  love,  and  thought,  and  joy." 

He  was  born  at  Cockermouth,  county  of  Cum- 
berland, April  7,  1770;  was  made  poet  laureate 
on  the  death  of  his  friend  Robert  Southey,  in 
1843;  and  died  at  Rydal  Mount,  April  23,  1850, 
in  his  eighty-first  year. 


GRAVE   OF  WORDSWORTH. 


241 


Near  the  rude  stone  wall  in  the  little  church- 
yard at  Grasmere,  beneath  the  green  sod  and  the 
shadowing  trees,  in  close  proximity  to  the  mur- 
muring waters  of  a  beautiful  stream,  with  the  lofty 
mountains  about  him  in  which  he  delighted,  the 
poet  laureate  quietly  sleeps. 

The  cold,  dark  slate-colored  stone  above  him  is 
modest  and  unpretending.  It  is  inscribed,  "Will- 
iam Wordsworth,  1850,"  and  underneath,  "Mary 
Wordsworth,  1859."  All  the  Wordsworth  family 
lie  in  this  yard, — his  brother,  his  sister,  his  wife 
and  children,  and  his  sister-in-law,  dear  as  a  sister 
to  him. 

In  close  proximity  was  the  rude  but  dignified 

little  church,  dating 
back  nearly,  if  not 
quite,  to  the  time 
of  the  Conquest, 
and  which  had  no 
floor,  save  the  cold 
ground,  till  1840. 
Here  the  poet  wor- 
shipped,  and  the 
pew  he  occupied  is 
an  object  of  inter- 
est. The  grave  of 
Hartley  Coleridge  is  in  this  same  yard. 

Grasmere  is  continually  thronged  with  tourists, 
most  of  whom  visit  the  ancient  church  and  sacred 

yard.      Leaving  this  attractive  place,  we  passed 
II* 


Grasmere  Church. 


242  HOME  OF  MRS.  HE  MANS. 

Rydal  lake,  less  than  a  mile  in  length  and  a  fourth 
in  breadth,  and  the  heights  of  Knab  Scar  on  the 
left  and  Loughrigfell  on  the  right,  near  Rydal 
Mount,  which  was  Wordsworth's  later  home.  The 
house  is  a  modest  mansion,  of  two  stories,  about 
which  cling  the  ivy,  the  roses,  and  the  Virginia 
creeper.  It  stands  on  the  sloping  side  of  a  rocky 
hill,  overlooking  Lake  Windermere  and  the  Vale 
of  Rothay.  This  house  is  not  considered  so  pleas- 
ing as  the  poet's  cottage  at  Grasmere,  but  both 
are  visited  by  travellers  almost  innumerable. 

Ambleside  is  an  irregular  town  of  some  2,000 
people,  situated  on  steeply  inclined  land.  Here 
were  offered  for  sale  many  views  of  the  localities 
of  the  lake  region.  The  town  lies  about  one  mile 
from  Lake  Windermere,  is  mostly  surrounded  by 
mountains,  and  is  a  place  of  many  attractions. 
The  home  of  the  rare,  gifted,  strong-minded 
Harriet  Martineau  was  shown  to  us.  There  was 
the  "Dove's  Nest"  among  the  trees  and  ivy, 
the  abode  of  the  sweet  and  sad  poet,  Mrs.  Hem- 
ans.  Her  life  was  a  poem.  She  was  one  of 
"God's  nightingales,"  and  sang, — 

"  Pressing  her  bosom  upon  a  secret  thorn." 

The  whole  route  is  infested  with  homes  of  lit- 
erary celebrities,  and  this  fact  gives  the  localities 
as  much  interest  as  their  natural  beauties,  though 
they  are  very  great.  Passing  along  by  the  shore 
of  Lake  Windermere,  its  clear  blue  waters  plainly 
in  view,  we  reached  Windermere.     On  the  route 


LAKE    WINDERMERE.  243 

we  had  seen  the  smallest  cathedral  in  England, 
where  the  congregation  numbers  at  most  only 
twenty-two  persons,  and  usually  not  over  eight. 
Of  course  it  is  of  the  Established  Church,  and  the 
manse  is  a  very  nice,  comfortable  stone  house, 
where  the  clergyman  resides.  The  value  of  his 
"livino-,"  besides  the  manse,  was  ^120  or  $576 — 
a  very  comfortable  income  for  doing  little.  This 
is  an  illustration  of  one  of  the  abuses  in  Great 
Britain, — and  there  are  many. 

Lake   Windermere   is   eleven   miles   in   length 
and  one  in  breadth.     A  small  steamer  goes  from 
point   to   point  daily,   and   many  skiffs   are   seen 
upon  its  blue  waters.     This  closed  my  tour  in  the 
Lake  Country,  which  was  a  continual  pleasure,  and 
retrospectively  will  be  a  source  of  gratification  for- 
ever.    The  scenic  beauties  and  historic  attractions 
were  a  revelation  to  me,  and  are  stamped  upon  my 
soul.     In  none  of  my  ramblings  have  I  had  keener 
enjoyment.    The  houses  covered  with  clinging  ivy 
and  surrounded   with  hedges,   the   green   shade- 
trees,  the  large  fields,  the  high  hills,  the   singing 
brooks,  and  the  quiet  waters  of  the  lakes,  which 
reflect  the  great  heaven  of  blue,  hint  but  dimly  of 
the  charms  of  this  fairest  part  of  "dear  old  Eng- 
land."    When  the  skies  are  fair,  nowhere  in  the 
wide  world  are  they  bluer  or  brighter  than  in  these 
retreats  about  the  English  lakes.     Nowhere   are 
the   trees  clothed  with  a  denser  foliage,  or  the 
grass  greener,  or  the  songs  of  birds  sweeter,  than 


244     ENGLISH  OPINIONS  OF  AMERICAN  POLITICS. 

amid  these  scenes  of  quietness,  of  peace,  of 
beauty.  At  the  railway  station  at  Windermere, 
with  expressions  of  mutual  regrets,  we  mourned 
the  departure  of  our  Glasgow  and  London  friends, 
previously  mentioned,  who  had  thrown  such  a  halo 
of  brightness  around  this  portion  of  my  journey, 
not  to  mention  a  like  pleasure  given  to  my  aged 
friend  from  Leeds.      May  joy  attend  them  ! 

We  reached  Kendall,  and  at  Oxenholme,  two 
miles  distant,  where  the  Kendall  &  Windermere 
Railway  forms  a  junction  with  the  Lancaster  & 
Carlisle  road,  we  changed  coaches  for  Leeds. 

An  amusing  episode  occurred  on  the  way  to 
Leeds,  which  will  be  noted.  Englishmen  have 
an  extravagant  view  of  the  badness  of  American 
politics,  and  do  not  hesitate  to  express  the  opin- 
ion that  they  are  utterly  corrupt.  They  do  not 
understand  the  manners  of  the  American  press, 
which  are  extravagant,  and  blazon  to  the  world 
the  most  trivial  events  for  business  or  partisan 
purposes.  It  is  not  so  in  England.  Corruption 
and  venality  in  government  circles  are  covered  up 
or  hardly  mentioned,  save  on  special  occasions, 
when  some  paper  like  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  lifts 
the  veil,  and  shows  to  the  world  the  iniquity  which 
exists  among  all  classes  of  their  people.  Then 
the  papers  are  obliged  to  notice  these  things, 
either  by  flat  denial,  or  by  acknowledgment  of  their 
truth.  I  deny  that  politics  are  any  more  corrupt 
here  than  there,  or  that  their  government  is  any 


AN  AMUSING  EPISODE.  245 

purer  than  ours.  Having  grown  restive  from 
hearing  my  country  criticized  severely  and  repeat- 
edly, an  opportunity  occurred  when  I  might  have 
a  little  quiet  enjoyment  at  the  expense  of  my 
English  friends.  In  the  daily  Times  was  a  notice 
of  a  Baptist  clergyman  who  for  some  misdemeanor 
had  been  arrested  and  taken  into  "durance  vile." 
Turning  to  my  friend  from  Leeds,  I  sportively 
called  his  attention  to  this  item,  and  remarked 
that  I  was  surprised  and  pained  at  the  evidences 
of  corruption  everywhere  apparent  in  the  British 
body  politic,  as  shown  in  their  daily  press  ;  and 
that  this  was  so  extensive,  infesting  all  classes, 
that  even  their  clergymen  could  not  always  be 
trusted  !  It  so  happened  that  a  young  clergyman 
of  the  Established  Church  was  an  occupant  of  the 
car,  and  heard  the  remark.  He  broke  in  by  say- 
ing,— "I  beg  pawdon,but  he  was  not  a  clergyman  ; 
he  was  nothing  but  a  Baptist  preacher."  "Do  jou 
not  recognize  any  as  clergymen,  except  those  of 
the  Established  Church?"  "Not  any."  "  Do  you 
not  recognize  Spurgeon,  Dr.  Parker,  and  others 
who  are  among  the  brightest  lights  in  the  church, 
as  co-laborers  with  you  in  proclaiming  the  truth?" 
"No,  I  recognize  them  only  as  members  of  a  polit- 
ical clique  ;  and  Mr.  Spurgeon  was  not  an  Oxford 
graduate, — not  a  man  of  culture.  He  [Spurgeon] 
himself  did  not  claim  to  be.  I  can  readily  see 
how  this  will  appear  to  you  as  an  American."  The 
gentleman  from  Leeds,  who  was  a  Wesleyan,  and 


246  riVO  ENGLISHMEN  MEASURE  LANCES. 

did  not  love  the  Established  Church,  said, — "Is  it 
not  possible  that  a  man  may  have  ability  and  cult- 
ure even  though  he  be  not  a  graduate  of  Oxford  ? 
I  have  known  four  of  your  men  of  culture,  of  your 
Oxford  graduates,  ministers  of  the  Established 
Church,  in  my  own  parish :  two  of  them  were 
nothing  but  dog-fanciers,  and  four  bigger  donkeys 
I  never  met."  Quietly  withdrawing  from  the  dis- 
cussion, I  listened  with  much  amusement  to  the 
two  Englishmen.  Each  was  sharp,  combative,  and 
intelligent.  The  gentleman  from  Leeds  had  a 
broad  mind,  with  broad  views,  and  expressed  him- 
self W'ith  great  force,  fluency,  and  keenness.  The 
clergyman  was  finely  educated,  very  keen,  very 
narrow,  and  a  bigot.  When  the  wordy  discussion 
died  away, — 

" silence,  like  a  poultice,  came 

To  heal  the  blows  of  sound." 

After  the  departure  of  the  clergyman,  the  gentle- 
man from  Leeds  said, — "I  have  no  love  for  the 
Established  Church,  but,  as  an  Englishman  and  a 
friend  of  justice,  I  do  not  wish  you,  an  American, 
to  think  for  a  moment  that  this  clergyman  was  a 
fair  representative  of  the  order.  He  is  not ;  for 
in  truth  a  more  bigoted  member  of  the  Church  I 
never  met."  My  acquaintances  now  had  subjects 
to  reflect  upon  in  their  own  localities,  and  griev- 
ances for  them  to  redress  nearer  home  than 
America.  A  few  hours'  ride  through  a  rich  and 
well  cultivated  country  brought  us  to  Leeds,  where 


IN  THE   CITY  OF  LEEDS.  247 

my  friend  left  me,  but  whom  I  subsequently  met 
by  chance  In  Liverpool  several  weeks  later,  on  the 
eve  of  my  departure  for  America. 

Leeds,  with  a  population  of  less  than  300,000, 
is  the  largest  city  in  the  county  of  York,  and  is 
the  fifth  town  in  England  in  point  of  business  and 
commercial  activity.  A  few  hours  only  were  spent 
in  the  place.  Its  new  town  hall  is  one  of  great 
elegance  and  solidity,  and  well  repays  a  visit. 
From  Leeds  I  went  to  the  old  city  of  York,  where 
I  spent  the  Sabbath.  This  visit  was  greatly  en- 
joyed, for  the  city  is  a  very  ancient  one,  and  has 
much  to  interest  and  instruct  the  visitor.  Founded, 
according  to  some,  nearly  a  thousand  years  before 
the  Christian  era,  yet  little  is  known  of  its  history 
until  the  advent  of  the  Romans.  It  was  a  great 
Roman  station,  and  many  Roman  ruins  are  still 
extant.  It  is  a  walled  town,  and  the  greater  part 
still  stands,  and  is  kept  in  good  order.  It  is  an 
enjoyable  walk  of  some  three  miles  to  follow  the 
walls  about  the  city,  and  many  pleasant  views  of 
the  city  and  the  outside  country  can  be  obtained 
from  them.  Like  Londonderry  and  Chester,  the 
city  has  extended  greatly  beyond  the  walls. 

The  river  Ouse  flows  through  the  city.  At  10 
A.  M.  the  chimes  of  York  cathedral,  which  is  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  churches  in  England,  sent 
forth  their  glad  notes,  calling  worshippers  to 
its  sacred  precincts.  The  cathedral  is  524  feet  in 
length,  222  feet  wide,  and  99  feet  high,  and  was 


248  THE    TRIUMPHANT  SONG. 

founded  in  the  year  626.  It  is  a  wonderful  build- 
ing-, externally  and  internally.  Being  built  of  light 
sandstone,  exposure  to  the  weather  causes  thin 
flakes  to  peel  off  continually,  which  destroys  much 
of  its  external  beauty.  The  number  of  ghouls, 
devils,  and  men's  heads  stuck  in  every  conceiva- 
ble cornice,  is  enormous.  Many  have  been  de- 
faced by  time, — a  nose  gone,  or  a  part  of  the  head 
itself  destroyed, — but  the  general  effect  when  not 
closely  examined  is  not  much  injured.  The  open 
grounds  about  it  add  greatly  to  its  attractiveness. 
The  services  were  those  of  the  Established  Epis- 
copal Church,  which  were  interesting. 

"The  music,  too — dear  music,  that  can  touch 
Beyond  all  else  the  soul  that  loves  it  much," 

I  have  never  heard  surpassed.  It  was  furnished 
by  a  choir  of  boys  in  robes,  who  marched  as  they 
sane.  Now  the  chant  was  sweet  and  stronsf,  then 
soft  and  low  as  they  receded  in  the  distance  and 
filed  through  the  different  parts  of  the  great  build- 
ing, and  the  tones  of  exceeding  sweetness  were 
those  of  a  far-off  song.  As  they  came  nearer,  that 
refrain  echoed  through  the  high  arches,  and  louder 
were  the  notes  of  praise.  As  they  came  in  view, 
and  marched  into  the  worshipping  hall,  the  chant 
burst  into  a  grand,  triumphant  song,  making  the 
cathedral  ring  with  the  sweetest,  strongest,  most 
joyful  strains  of  praise  ! 

I  visited  the   old  Abbey  of  St.   Mary,  now  in 
ruins,  and    the   Museum    of  Antiquities.      There 


ROMAN  REMAINS.  249 

were  numerous  coffins  of  stone,  sorne  with  their 
stone  covers  removed,  and  some  with  the  Hds 
still  covering  them.  These  were  remnants  of 
the  Roman  period,  and  in  them  had  been  interred 
the  bodies  of  distinguished  Romans.  There  were 
the  walls  of  an  old  tower  built  by  the  Romans, 
where  the  masonry  was  as  perfect  as  when  com- 
pleted, some  1,800  years  ago.  The  thin,  wide 
bricks  of  Roman  manufacture  were  distinctly  visi- 
ble. I  wandered  over  the  quaint  old  city,  through 
some  of  its  very,  very  narrow  streets,  which  seemed 
so  peculiar.  The  whole  town  has  a  strange, 
foreiofn  look,  with  its  houses  with  red  tile  roofs. 

The  following  morning  I  called  upon  a  relative 
who  was  living  in  York,  to  whom  my  advent  was 
a  great  surprise  and  a  mutual  pleasure.  Being 
impatient  for  American  news,  which  awaited  me 
in  London,  I  took  the  lo  o'clock  a.  m.  train  for 
that  city,  one  hundred  and  ninety  miles  away. 
The  day  was  perfect:  the  country  was  never 
greener,  nor  the  trees  lovelier.  The  ride  was 
enjoyable.  In  the  afternoon  I  arrived  at  King's 
Cross,  and  taking  a  cab  was  driven  across  the  city 
to  Whitfield's  hotel,  7  Beaufort  buildings,  Strand, 
W.  C,  which  was  my  London  home.  The  large 
mail  which  awaited  me  gave  me  the  greatest 
pleasure,  for  1  was  famishing  for  American  news. 
My  life  in  the  metropolis  of  the  world  now  com- 
menced, and  the  time  spent  there  is  an  oasis  in 
my  busy  life. 


CHAPTER  XL 

IN    LONDON. 

ONDON    is    the    largest    city    in    the    world. 
Four  millions  of  human  beings  dwell  there. 
It  is  the  place  of  which  all  have  read,  and  which  all 
desire  to  see, — the  place  of  power,  wealth,  influ- 
ence.    All  peoples  flock  to  it  as  the  rivers  flow  to 
the  sea.     It  is  solid,  substantial ;   it  is,  as  a  whole, 
beautiful.     I   love   London,   for  it   seems    home- 
like,— one  can  find  his  way  about  so  easily.     Each 
street  is  historic ; — and  when  an  American  rambles 
through  the  Strand  to  Trafalgar  square,  through 
Pall  Mall  with  its  famous  clubs,  through  Piccadilly, 
and  through  other  noted  streets  of   this  famous 
city;  or  when  at  the  Parliament  Houses,  Westmin- 
ster abbey,  and  the  Tower,  on   the   Embankment, 
or  sailine  the  Thames  in  whose  waters  a  thousand 
twinkling  lamps  are  reflected, — it  does  not  seem 
like  a  foreign  country,  far  from  the  land  of  his  na- 
tivity,  but  rather  like    going  up    to    the    ancient 
home,  where  he  can   see  and  commune  with  the 
great  personages  of  history,  and  look  over  places 
of  which   all   the  world    has    read.     There   is   so 
much  to  see,  so  much  to  admire,  that  one  could 


ITS  BRIGHT  SAVES. 


251 


Spend  months  in  roaming.  This  city,  with  its 
fifteen  hundred  miles  of  streets,  with  sewers  two 
thousand  miles  in  extent,  with  four  hundred  and 
eiehteen  thousand  inhabited  houses  which  belch 
forth  smoke  continually,  I  have  heard  stigmatized 
as  smoky,  dark,  foggy,  and  generally  disagree- 
able. It  did  not  seem  so  to  me,  save  on  one  very 
rainy  day.  London  had  bright  skies  for  me,  was 
a  kind  hostess,  and  I  will  speak  well  of  her. 

My  location  during  my  two  visits  to  the  city 
was  at  a  comfortable  family  hotel  just  off  the 
Strand,  a  few  rods  from  Exeter  Hall,  and  directly 
opposite  the  Savoy  theatre.  One  of  my  first  ad- 
ventures was  a  visit  to  Charing  Cross,  a  central 
locality,  and  a  point  from  which  it  is  easy  to  start 
in  many  directions.  This  locality  derives  its  name 
from  the  fact  that  here  Edward  I  erected  a  cross 
I  (1291-94)  in  memory  of  his  wife.  At  this 
point  in  Trafalgar  square,  named  in  honor 
of  Lord  Nelson's  great  victory  at  Trafalgar, 
is  a  monument  one  hundred  and  forty-five 
feet  in  height,  surmounted  by  a  statue  of 
the  distinguished  admiral.  Going  toward 
the  Parliament  Houses,  one  passes  Scot- 
land Yard,  now  the  head-quarters  of  the 
Metropolitan  police.  The  poet  Milton 
lodged  in  apartments  here  when  secretary 
for  Cromwell.  Here  it  was  that  the  dynamiters 
made  the  place  famous  through  all  the  world  by 
exploding  dynamite,  and  causing  great  damage, 


252  AN  EVENT  WHOLESOME    TO  ROYALTY. 

doing  it  beneath  the  very  gaze,  almost,  of  the 
poHce,  and  going  undetected.  On  visiting  the 
spot,  I  observed  that  a  corner  wall  of  a  building 
was  torn  out,  windows  were  broken,  and  all  things 
were  shattered  in  every  conceivable  manner.  Op- 
posite is  the  Admiralty,  and  one  passes  through 
Whitehall  to  Parliament  street  and  Parliament 
buildings. 

It  was  at  Whitehall  that  the  weak,  bigoted, 
treacherous  King  Charles  I  suffered  the  penalty 
of  the  law  for  his  crimes  against  the  British  people. 
That  act  had  the  effect  of  awakening  a  little  com- 
mon-sense in  the  minds  of  the  royal  family,  and  it 
has  had  a  wholesome  influence  ever  since.  Crom- 
well, he  of  the  fearless  heart  and  iron  hand,  was 
at  the  head  of  the  Commonwealth.  It  was  re- 
freshing to  have  a  man  of  brains,  resolute  and 
brave,  at  the  helm  of  government  after  the  weak- 
ness and  vacillation  of  Charles  I. 

Thought  was  busy  when  I  approached  the  Par- 
liament buildinofs.  England  has  no  reason  to 
love  the  Stuarts.  After  the  Restoration,  and 
when  Charles  II  was  secure  upon  his  throne,  the 
head  of  Cromwell  was  nailed  up  over  the  entrance 
to  Westminster  Hall,  A  member  of  parliament 
pointed  out  the  spot  to  me.  Westminster  abbey, 
the  grandest  burial-place  in  all  history,  was  at 
hand.  Then  there  was  the  Embankment  on  the 
Thames,  which  extends  to  Blackfriar's  bridge. 
This   is   land   reclaimed   from   the    river,    varying 


THE  FLASHING  LIGHTS  OF  LONDON.  253 

from  200  to  450  feet  in  width,  and  makes  about 
thirty  acres.     A  soHd  granite  wall,  very  thick  and 
high,  runs  along  the  river's  edge.     On  the  Em- 
bankment   is    a   road   more  than   six  rods  wide, 
while  shade-trees  line  all  the  way;   and  at  sections 
there  are  small  parks,  with  trees  and  lawns  and 
beds   of    rare  flowers.     This  is  one  of  the  most 
delightful  promenades  in   London.     Charming  it 
was  in  moonlit  evenings  to  wander  over  it,  and 
look  at  the  waters  of  the  Thames,  which  reflected 
the  torches  of  the  sky  and  streets,  and,  when  the 
evening  was  dark,  to  see  the  glittering  lights  of 
London  town  from  either  side   reproduce  them- 
selves in  the  flowing  stream.     Very  attractive  are 

"  Those  gleaming,  flashing  lights  that  grace  the  city's  crown. 
What  fortunes  lie  within  you,  O  lights  of  London  town  !  " 

Beneath  the  Embankment  is  an  underground 
railway,  besides  a  tunnel  which  is  a  great  sewer, 
and  another  which  contains  gas  pipes,  telegraph 
wires,  and  water  pipes.  When  one  has  ridden  on 
the  underground  railways  from  one  side  of  the 
city  to  the  other,  and  beneath  the  Thames,  it 
seems  as  though  the  great  city  was  completely 
honeycombed  with  one  thing  or  another.  There 
was  the  Egyptian  obelisk,  called  Cleopatra's 
Needle,  overlooking  the  Thames.  It  is  seventy 
feet  in  height,  and  was  removed  from  the  sand  at 
Alexandria,  Egypt,  to  London  in  1878.  It  is  a 
much   finer  monument  than  the  one  in    Central 


254  THE  EMBANKMENT. 

Park,  New  York,  but  not  so  elegant  as  the  one  in 
Paris.  It  is  a  rare  and  imposing  memento  of  a 
former  age,  and  of  a  civilization  differing  from 
ours.  It  was  distinctly  in  view,  and  only  a  short 
distance  from  the  windows  of  my  hotel.  This  was 
my  first  ramble  about  London.  The  hotel  at 
Beaufort  buildings  occupies  the  site  of  the  Wor- 
cester House,  owned  by  the  Marquis  of  Worces- 
ter. Here,  in  September,  1662,  was  married  the 
Duke  of  York,  afterwards  James  II,  to  Anne 
Hyde,  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Clarendon.  Exe- 
ter Hall  was  only  a  few  rods  distant,  where  is 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  Here, 
also,  is  something  very  rare  in  Great  Britain,  and 
which  deserves  proclaiming  throughout  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  earth  :  it  is  a  restaurant 
where  the  attendants  are  strictly  prohibited  from 
taking  "tips,"  and  every  American  visiting  Lon- 
don should  patronize  it. 

It  was  my  privilege,  when  in  Edinburgh,  to  see 
and  hear  that  remarkable  American  woman  as  well 
as  actress,  Mary  Anderson.  Her  face  is  beautiful, 
as  pure  and  spirituelle  as  could  be  wrought  in 
marble.  It  was  a  continual  delight  to  listen  to  her. 
At  Glasgow  I  listened  to  the  distinguished  Italian, 
Salvini.  It  is  rank  heresy,  and  shows  a  lack  of 
culture,  not  to  admire  him  and  his  acting;  still, 
neither  pleased  me.  His  face,  "the  mirror  of  the 
soul,"  did  not  attract,  and  his  manner  was  too 
florid,  too  intense,  and  much  overdone.     In  Lon- 


CO  VENT  GARDEN.  255 

don,  Henry  Irving  and  Ellen  Terry  were  listened 
to  with  delio-ht,  in  "Much  Ado  About  Nothing." 
Attending  the  Savoy  theatre  was  not  an  unpleas- 
ant recreation.     A  gentleman  from  Alabama  was 
my  companion  at  the  Drury  Lane  theatre,  which 
is  the  oldest  in  London.     The  first  theatre  on  this 
spot  was  opened  in   1633.     The  most  celebrated 
English  actors  of  the  last  two  and  a  half  centuries 
have  appeared  here,  and  the  most  noted  persons 
have   been    auditors.      Here,  in    1666,   was    Nell 
Gwynne.     Later  came  Booth,  Mrs.  Siddons,  and 
Edmund  Kean  ;  and  here,  in  185  i,  Macready  bade 
adieu  to   the   stage.     The   entertainment,   at  the 
time  of  my  visit,  was  not  interesting  to  me.     A 
colored  troupe — in   appearance — was   the   attrac- 
tion, but  I  do  not  think  English  Africans  a  suc- 
cess!     Only  the    historic    associations   connected 
with  the  locality  afforded  me  pleasure. 

Within  easy  distance  was  Covent  Garden,  which 
I  visited  many  times.  No  tourist  has  seen  Lon- 
don who  has  not  visited  this  place.  It  is  of  great 
interest  and  celebrity.  The  derivation  of  the  name 
is  from  the  Convent  Garden  of  Westminster,  that 
once  occupied  this  site  and  the  adjacent  locality. 
Covent  Garden  market-house  was  erected  in  1830, 
and  supplies  half  of  London  with  vegetables  and 
flowers.  The  choicest  and  rarest  are  there  for 
sale.  It  is  a  unique  sight  to  pass  through  this 
place  and  see  the  donkey  carts  and  the  litde  carts 
of  small  traders  filled  with  produce,  or  waiting  to  be 


256  THE   AMERICAN  EXCHANGE. 

filled.  All  is  bustle  and  confusion.  But  this  spot, 
celebrated  as  it  is,  in  itself  is  no  more  attractive 
than  markets  in  Boston  and  New  York. 

The  American  in  London  will  always  visit  the 
American  Exchange,  where  most  of  our  country- 
men go  and  register  their  names,  meet  other 
Americans,  and  read  the  American  papers,  with 
which  the  reading-room  is  filled.  There  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  meeting  ex-Gov.  Noyes  of  Ohio, 
formerly  minister  to  France,  and  ex-Sec.  Windom 
of  Minnesota,  member  of  President  Garfield's  cab- 
inet. I  also  met  Mr.  Henry  F.  Waters  of  Salem, 
Mass.,  who  is  doing  such  valuable  work,  in  a  his- 
torical line,  for  New  England.  He  is  the  agent 
of  the  New  England  Historic  Genealogical  So- 
ciety; and  at  Somerset'  House,  among  the  wills 
of  two  centuries  or  so  ago,  he  is  gleaning  a  rich 
harvest  of  historical  and  genealogical  matters  re- 
lating to  the  early  settlers  of  New  England,  and 
to  their  early  homes,  and  relatives  whom  they  left 
in  England.  This  work  is  above  money  value, 
and  Mr.  Waters,  from  his  long  study  of  the  history 
and  names  of  the  families  who  first  settled  in  New 
England,  is  admirably  adapted  for  this  special 
work.  The  wills  and  records  are  written  in  the 
old  "court  hand,"  with  contractions,  in  English 
and  Latin,  and  are  very  elegant,  but  an  amateur 
can  do  but  little  in  deciphering  them.  One  must 
make  a  study  of  it,  and  learn  to  read  this  writing, 
before   success  will   crown   his  efforts  in  getting 


A  T  SO M ERSE  T  HO  USE.  257 

information.  Mr.  Waters  is  doing  his  work  so 
well  that  he  should  be  kept  at  his  post  by  the 
society. 

Somerset  House,  on  the  Strand,  stands  on  the 
site  of  an  old  palace  built  by  the  Lord  Protector 
Somerset.  There  dwelt  the  wives  of  Kings  James 
I,  Charles  I,  and  his  son  Charles  II.  The  present 
building  was  finished  in  1786,  except  one  wing 
which  was  completed  in  1852.  An  archway  is 
the  entrance  from  the  Strand.  Fronting  the 
Thames,  the  building  is  elegant,  having  a  facing  of 
800  feet  in  length,  and  ornamented  with  numer- 
ous columns,  making  it  one  of  the  finest  buildings 
in  London.  It  is  in  the  form  of  a  quadrangle, 
and  is  filled  with  government  offices.  Among 
them  is  the  office  of  wills  and  probate.  The  Cal- 
endars can  be  searched  for  one  shilling  (twenty- 
five  cents).  The  originals  can  be  seen  for  one 
shilling.  Immense  books,  with  heavy  clasps,  are 
made  by  putting  great  numbers  of  these  old  docu- 
ments together.  It  is  a  curiosity  to  look  over 
these  old  records  so  long  after  the  busy  brain 
which  directed  them  has  become  quiet,  and  the 
hand  which  wrote  them  has  gone  back  to  dust. 

James  A.  D.  Camp,  Esq.,  of  London,  a  legal 
gentleman,  attended  me  at  Somerset  House  in 
some  investigations,  and  showed  me  many  cour- 
tesies. 

Onjs  of  my  most  delightful  rambles  in   London 

was    to  Kew  Gardens  and    Richmond   Hill.     My 
12 


258  A^EW  GARDENS. 

companion  was  an  English  gentleman,  whose 
acquaintance  was  made  in  Glasgow.  We  took 
boat  on  the  Thames,  and  passed  on  the  river 
some  ten  miles  to  Kew  Gardens.  The  ride  on 
the  river  was  exhilarating  and  grand.  The 
Thames  flowed  like  a  belt  of  silver  beneath  the 
bright  skies  of  that  day,  through  fertile  lands  : 
great  trees  with  dense  foliage  are  upon  its  banks. 
It  was  a  relief,  a  delight,  to  get  out  of  London, 
with  its  hurrying  crowds  and  blackened  walls  of 
great  buildings,  on  to  the  shimmering  water,  and 
into  the  sweet  breezes  and  pure  air  of  the  country. 
The  river  was  covered  with  different  kinds  of 
crafts,  and  as  we  receded  from  the  dense  part  of 
London,  we  came  upon  multitudes  of  sporting 
boats,  long,  slender,  light  shells  with  a  single 
rower,  and  others  with  a  full  boat's  crew.  It  was 
a  beautiful  sight  to  watch  them,  as  with  the  vigor- 
ous strokes  of  the  oarsmen,  given  with  the  preci- 
sion of  machinery,  the  boat  skimmed  over  the 
unresisting  waters,  and  was  skilfully  guided  by 
the  cockswain  through  the  multitude  of  boats  on 
the  river.  We  were  at  Kew  Gardens  at  last,  and 
what  a  place  of  luxuriant  beauty  !  They  comprise 
270  acres,  laid  out  with  artistic  taste,  and  culti- 
vated with  all  the  skill  which  science  can  bring. 
The  hot-houses  are  marvels  of  excellence,  and 
contain  the  most  perfect  collections  in  the  world 
of  tropical  trees  and  rare  and  beautiful  plants,  all 
of  which  grow  luxuriantly.     Palm-trees  are  there 


RICHMOND  HILL.  259 

which  grow  to  the  glass  roof,  sixty-four  feet  in 
height ;  also  the  banana,  the  cocoanut,  the  clove, 
and  other  rare  trees  of  the  tropics.  The  grounds 
are  all  that  could  be  desired  in  way  of  beauty. 
It  is  with  unalloyed  pleasure  that  one  wanders 
over  them,  drinking  in  their  many  charms.  The 
distance  to  Richmond  Hill  is  not  quite  two  miles. 
Thither  we  went.  It  was  named  by  Henry  V^II, 
after  himself,  who  was  once  Earl  of  Richmond. 
It  is  situated  on  the  Thames.  Here  died  Oueen 
Elizabeth.  I  was  wholly  unprepared  for  the 
scene  of  loveliness  which  greeted  my  eyes.  The 
view  from  Richmond  Hill  is  divinely  fair.  One's 
eyes  sweep  over  forests,  meadows,  fields ;  the 
winding  Thames,  flowing  along  through  verdant 
lowlands,  reflecting  in  its  lovely  bosom  the  deep 
blue  of  the  arching  sky ;  the  trees,  so  heavily  foli- 
aged,  so  grand,  so  beautiful,  as  one  stands  on 
a  higher  elevation  than  they,  and  looks  down 
upon  their  luxuriant  forms  beneath ;  and  in  the 
distance, — 

"  O  vale  of  bliss  !    O  softly  swelling  hills  !" 

Richmond  is  not  a  really  commercial  city,  but 
is  rather  a  city  of  homes.  Many  of  the  proprie- 
tors of  its  elegant  establishments  do  business  in 
London,  but  live  here.  Its  population  is  100,000. 
In  earlier  days  the  place  was  called  West  Sheen, 
but  the  old  palace  of  royalty  has  almost  entirely 
disappeared.  "  The  Star  and  Garter,"  where,  in 
other  centuries  the  members  of  the  royal  family 


26o  ST.  JAMES'S  PARK. 

banqueted,  is  still  there.  This  famous  hotel  com- 
mands the  view  already  described,  which  is  one 
of  the  finest  in  England.  Richmond  Park,  the 
nearest,  is  large  and  beautiful.  Richmond  Hill  will 
be  a  bright  place  in  my  memory.  The  sun  was 
sinking  to  rest  when  we  departed,  casting  a  mel- 
low light  over  the  winding  river,  the  leafy  trees, 
the  verdant  meadows,  and  the  distant  hills,  bath- 
ing all,  crowning  all,  with  the  glory  of  departing 
day.  The  scene,  so  quiet,  so  peaceful,  so  lovely, 
is  ineffaceably  stamped  upon  my  mind. 

Returning  by  rail,  we  were  ushered  into  Lon- 
don in  the  evening,  and  soon  were  upon  the 
Strand,  amidst  its  motley,  hurrying  crowds,  and  in 
the  roar  and  rush  of  the  great  city.  The  famous 
National  Gallery  of  pictures  was  often  visited. 
One  can  spend  hours,  days,  or  weeks  in  their 
pleasant  inspection.  In  passing  through  Pall 
Mall,  one  sees  magnificent  edifices  which  line  the 
street.  Here  are  the  most  noted  clubs  in  the 
world,  in  one  of  the  best  known  streets  in  Chris- 
tendom. 

St.  James's  park  covers  over  ninety  acres  of 
ground.  I  entered  "The  Mall,"  with  its  lovely 
walks  and  groves,  which  extends  a  half  mile  to 
Buckingham  palace.  This  was  the  play-ground 
of  Charles  II  and  his  friends.  At  the  left  was  a 
little  lake  with  its  spanning  bridge  which  connects 
the  Mall  with  Westminster.  This  was  all  historic 
ground.     I  passed   in    the    rear  of  Marlborough 


THE  DISAPPOINTED   VALET.  26 1 

House,  the  home  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  ;  then 
St.  James's  palace,  where  Charles  II  was  born, 
and  where  Charles  I  lived,  and  where  he  slept  the 
night  before  his  execution.  On  January  30,  1649, 
he  walked  over  this  very  ground,  between  a  file 
of  soldiers,  to  his  execution  at  Whitehall.  Like 
any  other  criminal,  he  was  tried  before  a  high  tri- 
bunal, found  guilty,  and  executed.  Passing  out 
of  the  groves,  one  comes  to  the  front  entrance  of 
the  court-yard  of  Buckingham  palace.  When  the 
sentinel  informed  me  that  "none  but  royalty  were 
permitted  to  enter"  there,  I  sought  for  a  ticket  of 
admission  to  the  queen's  stables.  The  directions 
request  visitors  not  to  give  fees  to  the  servants, 
which  were  obeyed  by  me  to  the  very  letter ;  but 
the  disappointed  look  of  the  man  in  charge  really 
awakened  my  sympathy. 

I  visited  Westminster  abbey,  which  stands  upon 
the  site  of  a  temple  dedicated  to  Apollo.  In  610 
Kino-  Sebert  founded  the  first  Christian  church, 
still  known  as  the  Collegiate  Church  of  St.  Peter. 
The  abbey  is  416  feet  in  length,  200  feet  in  width, 
and  10 1  feet  in  height,  and  the  height  of  the  tow- 
ers is  225  feet.  After  running  the  gauntlet  of 
guide-book  sellers,  and  having  the  usual  sixpence 
abstracted  from  me,  the  same  as  has  been  the  ex- 
perience of  all  other  travellers  before  me,  and  will 
be  to  all  after  me  till  the  nuisance  is  abated,  I 
entered  the  main  entrance  of  the  abbey.  This  is 
managed  on  business  principles,  and  one  pays  as 


262  WESTMINSTER  ABBEY. 

he  goes.  A  very  red-faced  man,  who  looks  and 
acts  Hke  a  man  grown  old  as  a  bar-tender  and 
patron,  acts  as  escort.  He  is  called  a  verger. 
At  the  gate  of  a  chapel  a  sixpence  more  is  de- 
manded, when  his  brother  verger  admits  you  and 
your  companions,  and  locks  the  gate.  Visitors 
usually  go  in  crowds  of  from  twenty  to  thirty,  and 
he  acts  as  guide, — passes  from  point  to  point, 
from  tomb  to  tomb,  and  explains  who  is  buried  in 
them  or  beneath  them. 

A  wonderful  place  is  this  abbey,  for  here  sleep 
the  mighty  dead  of  Great  Britain.  Here  rest 
together  more  illustrious  ones  than  in  any  other 
place  upon  the  planet.  One  writer  aptly  says  that 
it  is  singular  that  no  bad  men  were  ever  buried 
here,  for,  judging  by  the  inscriptions  on  the  mem- 
orial stones,  they  were  "  very  good."  As  one 
moves  about  among  the  tombs  of  the  illustrious 
dead,  the  influence  of  the  long  ago  comes  power- 
fully over  him.  He  is  in  the  silent  presence  of 
those  who  made  centuries  of  British  history.  He 
communes  with  the  long  gone  past — a  past  where 
was  much  of  wrong,  but  also  much  of  good.  Sad, 
sweet,  tender,  loving  memories  flood  one's  soul 
as  he  moves  from  spot  to  spot  in  this  grandest 
burial-place  on  earth  ! 

Wandering  about,  at  last  one  becomes  wearied 
and  bewildered  with  the  innumerable  tablets,  busts, 
statues  recumbent,  erect,  or  kneeling,  found  in  all 
parts  of  Westminster  abbey,  in  transept,  in  nave, 


CHAPEL   OF  HENRY  VIL 


263 


in  aisle.  In  very  many  cases  they  were  erected  to 
persons  whose  notoriety  is  no  more  lasting  than 
these  monuments,  their  reputation  was  local  only, 
and  to  others  whose  fame  is  wide  as  the  world 
and  as  lasting  as  time. 

We  passed  into  the  magnificent  chapel  of 
Henr}^  VII,  erected  1502,  and  called,  from  its 
wondrous  beauty,  "  the  miracle  of  the  world." 
Its  decorations  are  wonder- 
ful, and  nowhere  in  Eng- 
land is  there  a  choicer  spot 
for  monumental  stone  to  be 
placed  than  here.  In  the 
centre  is  the  tomb  of  Henry 
VII  and  his  queen.  On  one 
side  is  that  of  the  haughty 
Elizabeth,  with  her  recum- 
bent statue,  with  the  nose 
very  much  softened  down 
from  the  sharp  and  high  proportions  of  the  orig- 
inal, as  shown  in  the  usual  engravings.     On  the 

opposite  side  is  buried  her 
cousin  and  victim,  the  un- 
fortunate Mary  Queen  of 
Scots,  with  her  recumbent 
statue  of  white  marble  a 
beautiful  representation  of 
her  personal  charms.  Many 
Coronation  Chair.  Other  monarchs  are  here. 
The  coronation  chair,  always  used  when  a  sover- 


MENRY  VII.'S    CHAPEL     _ 
7~"  westminsteh  Aooe 


264  EFFIGY  OF  MARY   QUEEN  OF  SCOTS. 

eign  is  crowned,  contains  the  famous  stone  of 
Scone,  on  which  the  kings  of  Scotland  were 
crowned.  It  is  11  inches  thick.  26  inches  long, 
and  16!  inches  broad,  and  is  of  red  white  sand- 
stone. It  was  once  in  the  Abbey  of  Scone,  Scot- 
land, and  was  carried  to  England  by  Edward  I 
when  he  claimed  to  have  subdued  the  kingdom. 
I  saw  the  resting-place  of  that  great  man,  Dean 
Stanley.  They  keep  his  memory  green,  and  the 
pavement  above  him  was  ornamented  with  a 
wreath  of  fresh,  beautiful  flowers. 

rlere  slept  L-rom-     feppj^Y  or  rvRnY,QUE£Ni  °r scq^'a 
well    the    Protect-    ^~7Z       fV        ^,^-^^iw 
or,   and   England's     ^^?^^^§^?^^^^^^ 
greatest  man.    The     ^2^Hi^^^^^^^^^^^^^^3 

an  inscription  on  the  pavement  informs  the  vis- 
itor that  he  was  buried  there.  After  Cromwell's 
death  his  body  was  embalmed,  laid  in  state  for 
a  time,  and  was  subsequently  interred  with  the 
most  distinguished  honors  in  this  grandest  place 
in  the  abbey,  where  for  some  three  years  it  rest- 
ed in  peace.  Twelve  months  after  Charles  II  had 
returned  to  the  throne,  by  a  vote  of  the  House 
of  Commons  the  body  of  The  Protector  was 
taken  from  its  resting-place,  carted  to  the  Red 
Lion  inn,  in  Holborn,  where  it  remained  a  night. 


BEHEADING    THE  DEAD    CROMWELL. 


265 


The  following  day  it  was  taken  to  Tyburn  gal- 
lows, where  criminals  were  executed  ;  and  on  the 
1 2th  anniversary  of  the  execution  of  Charles  I  the 
dead  body  of  Cromwell  was  hanged,  and  remained 
from  sunrise  to  sunset,  then  taken  down  and  be- 
headed, the  body  buried  beneath  the  gallows,  and 


Oliver  Cromwki.l. 

his  head,  with  a  spike  driven  through  it  and  affix- 
ed to  a  handle  of  oak,  was  fastened  upon  the 
exterior  of  Westminster  Hall,  beneath  whose  gor- 
geous roof  he  had  sat  in  judgment  upon  Charles  I. 
The  fierce  winds  and  beating  storms  for  twenty 
years  smote  the  dead  face  of  Cromwell,  while  the 
"  merry  monarch"  and  his  corrupt  court  revelled 
beneath    it.     During    a   tempestuous    night   the 


I2« 


266  NO  MONUMENT  TO   CROMWELL. 

oaken  shaft  was  broken,  and  the  head  fell  to  the 
ground.  In  the  morning  the  sentry  found  it,  who 
retained  it  till  his  death.  It  passed  through  sev- 
eral hands,  and  was,  in  1884,  in  the  possession 
of  Mr.  Horace  Wilkinson,  of  Sevenoaks,  some 
twenty  miles  from  London.  Hair  is  upon  the 
head  and  face,  with  the  mark  of  the  wart  over  the 
right  eye.     The  spike  is  rusted  into  the  skull. 

England  has  never  recognized  publicly  Crom- 
well's greatness,  because  he  was  a  plebeian.  Stat- 
ues of  royal  poltroons  and  royal  simpletons  meet 
one  everywhere,  but  the  name  of  her  greatest  son 
has  not  been  honored,  his  virtues  have  not  been 
recognized.  His  great  abilities,  his  marvellous 
achievements,  the  influential  position  he  gave 
England  before  the  world,  and  the  fear  which  his 
name  inspired  among  the  rulers  of  mankind,  have 
not  been  given  prominence  by  the  government  of 
Great  Britain.  The  reason  is  easily  found.  Roy- 
alty does  not  like  the  memory  of  a  man  who  exe- 
cuted one  of  its  guilty,  sinful  members. 

To  show  the  change  in  public  opinion,  and  the 
liberalizing  influence  operating  upon  the  English 
government,  the  plan  is  now  agitated  of  erecting 
a  monument  to  him  in  the  open  yard  fronting 
Westminster  Hall,  which  will  sometime  be  done. 
It  is  a  singular  fact,  that  probably  in  all  Great 
Britain  there  is  not  a  monument  erected  to  his 
memory.  One  cannot  love  the  memory  of  many 
of  the  rulers  buried  there. 


POET'S  CORNER  IN  THE  ABBEY.  26/ 

It  was  a  very  great  pleasure  to  turn  from  this 
portion  of  the  abbey  to  the  "  Poet's  Corner," 
and  to  be  surrounded  by  memorials  of  those 
who  are  Qfreatest  in  the  world  of  letters  and 
in  the  affections  of  the  race.  There  was  the 
place  where  the  illustrious  dramatist  was  buried, 
in  a  standing  position,  with  his  head,  it  is 
said,  less  than  a  foot  beneath  the  pavement, 
while  above  is  the  laconic  inscription,  "O  rare 
Ben  Jonson."  Among  memorials  of  the  great- 
est men  who  ever  lived  a  statue  had  just  been 
placed  of  our  own  classic  and  beloved  Longfel- 
low, for  whom  Britons  have  unbounded  reeard, 
greater  than  for  Tennyson.  Probably  more  cop- 
ies of  his  poems  will  be  found  in  British  homes 
than  of  any  other  poet.  It  may  be  well  that  his 
statue  is  there;  but  is  there  not  great  danger  that 
one  half  of  the  English  people,  with  their  igno- 
rance of  America  and  Americans,  will  think  that 
Longfellow  was  an  Englishman  ? 

In  the  south  aisle  of  the  nave  are  memorials 
of  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  the  Wesleys,  Isaac  Watts, 
Wordsworth,  Canon  Kingsley,  and  Major  Andre. 
Going  to  the  tomb  of  the  latter,  around  which 
were  many  visitors,  presumably  Americans,  I 
copied  the  inscription  : 

"SACRED  TO  THE  MEMORY 
of 
MAJOR   JOHN    ANOKK, 

"  Who,  raised  by  merit  at  an  early  period  of  Life  to  the  rank  of  Adjutant- 
General  of  the  iJritish  Forces  in  America,  and  employed  in  an  im- 
portant but  hazardous  Enterprise,  fell  a  Sacrifice  to  his  Zeal  for  his 


268  MEMORIAL   OF  MAJOR  JOHN  ANDRE. 

King  and  Country  on  the  2d  of  October,  A.  D.  1780,  Aged  29,  uni- 
versally Beloved  and  esteemed  by  the  Army  in  which  he  served,  and 
lamented  even  by  his  Foes.  His  gracious  Sovereign,  King  George 
the  Third,  has  caused  this  monument  to  be  erected. 
"The  remains  of  Major  John  Andre  were  on  the  loth  of  August,  1821, 
removed  from  Tappan,  New  York,  by  James  Buchanan,  Esq.,  His 
Majesty's  Consul  at  New  York,  under  instructions  of  His  Royal 
Highness  the  Duke  of  York,  and  with  the  permission  of  the  Dean 
and  Chapter  finally  deposited  in  a  grave  contiguous  to  this  monu- 
ment, on  the  2Sth  of  November,  182 1." 

Such  is  the  inscription  on  the  tablet  to  the 
gallant  but  unfortunate  young  officer  whose 
unhappy  fate  Americans  commiserate,  but  whose 
success  in  that  "  important  but  hazardous  enter- 
prise "  might  have  prevented  the  achievement  of 
American  independence,  and  doomed  to  death  as 
rebels  those  whom  Americans  now  greatly  honor 
as  Revolutionary  heroes,  and  the  fathers  and 
founders  of  our  liberties  and  of  the  United  States 
government. 

I  attended  religious  services  twice  in  the  abbey. 
Once  upon  a  clear,  sunny  Sabbath,  when  the  place 
was  filled  to  its  utmost  capacity  with  its  rich  and 
titled  worshippers,  the  elite  of  London,  and  with 
strangers.  The  hours  spent  there  were  hours  of 
profit.  England  prizes  above  value  Westminster 
abbey,  and  well  she  may.  As  descendants  of  those 
who  helped  make  British  history  and  Britain  what 
they  are,  Americans  can  claim  a  share  in  this 
glorious  inheritance.  They  who  sleep  their  last 
sleep  there  are  of  our  own  race  as  well  as  theirs, 
and  we  can  share  all  these  honors  with  our 
cousins  across  the  sea. 


SPURGEON'S  PLEACHING.  269 

Upon  a  clear  Sabbath  morning  I  went  along 
the  Strand  and  crossed  the  Thames  by  Waterloo 
bridge  and  along  Waterloo  road  to  Newington, 
to  see  and  hear  Rev.  C.  H.  Spurgeon.  The 
Metropolitan  Tabernacle,  where  he  preaches,  is  a 
large,  fine  building,  and  will  seat  from  seven  to 
ten  thousand  people.  Arriving  early,  many  peo- 
ple were  waiting  for  the  door  to  be  opened,  when 
the  waiting  throngs  quickly  entered,  and  quickly 
filled  the  Tabernacle.  By  good  fortune  I  was 
shown  to  a  seat  very  near  Mr.  Spurgeon,  where 
there  was  an  admirable  opportunity  to  scan  his 
face,  note  his  manners,  and  study  the  man,  as 
well  as  to  hear  his  sermon.  He  entered  the 
church  in  a  bustling,  business-like  way,  like  one 
who  had  important  aftairs  to  attend  to.  The 
prayer  he  offered  was  short  and  earnest.  He  then 
read,  and  joined  the  immense  congregation  in 
singing  a  hymn,  the  music  being  led  by  the  con- 
ductor, who  stood  at  his  side.  No  instrumental 
music  is  used.  V'^ery  inspiring  was  the  great  vol- 
ume of  song  as  it  came,  now  low,  then  loud  and 
strong,  from  the  blended  voices  of  the  great  com- 
pany. 

His  elders  sat  near  him,  and  the  whole  organ- 
ization of  the  church  seemed  not  at  all  for  show 
or  pretence,  but  for  solid,  hard,  substantial  work; 
and  this  is  one  secret  of  his  success.  His  every 
action  shows  him  to  be  a  good  manager,  and  he 
has  about  him   an  able  corps  of  assistants,  in  full 


270  REV.  DR.  PARKER. 

harmony  with  him.  In  his  earnestness  and  zeal 
he  reminded  me  of  Moody.  His  manner  of  speak- 
ing was  very  vigorous  and  positive,  not  smooth, 
poHshed,  or  cukivated.  When  hearing  him  one 
would  not  think  of  a  strong  river,  flowing  smooth- 
ly through  rich  meadows,  but  rather  of  the  river 
rushing  and  tumbling  down  over  rocky  mountain- 
sides. He  accepts  the  Bible  as  the  inspired  word 
of  God  in  all  particulars,  even  to  the  punctuation 
points.  He  believes  fully,  heartily,  and  utterly  all 
he  preaches,  and  earnestly  strives  to  make  others 
believe  the  same.  His  manners  are  not  so  pleas- 
ing as  those  of  many  preachers.  It  is  difficult  to 
detect  any  superiority  in  his  sermons  to  those  of 
many  less  noted  preachers  in  England  or  the 
United  States.  He  is  doing  a  great  work,  and 
every  true-hearted  person  wishes  him  long  life 
and  great  success. 

It  was  my  privilege  to  listen  to  Rev.  Dr.  Parker, 
of  London.  One  of  his  peculiarities  is,  that  at 
the  conclusion  of  a  prayer  he  waits  quite  a  notice- 
able length  of  time  before  saying  "Amen."  He 
is  an  able  preacher.  His  sermon  was  not  re- 
markable, and  he  did  not  impress  me  as  being 
brilliant. 

The  iron-clad  rules  and  inflexible  regulations 
of  everything  of  a  governmental  nature  are  fitly 
illustrated  by  this  incident:  Having  made  an  en- 
gagement to  visit  a  family  a  few  miles  away,  I 
was  to  take  the  train  at  Charing  Cross.     I  arrived 


SHRIMPS.  271 

in  abundance  of  time,  and  upon  reaching  the 
gate  through  which  passengers  pass  to  the  train 
it  was  closed  by  the  pohceman  in  charge,  and 
though  the  train  did  not  leave  for  several  min- 
utes, and  he  knew  I  was  very  desirous  to  go 
then,  he  would  not  permit  me  to  pass,  and  com- 
pelled me  to  wait  for  another  train.  Everything 
is  on  this  principle.  Law  is  law,  and  it  must  be 
obeyed ;  there  is  no  elasticity  to  anything  British. 
Sometimes  an  American  almost  wishes  for  some 
great  awakening  w^hich  would  introduce  some  pli- 
ability and  common-sense  into  their  government 
officers. 

Passing  by  the  stalls  upon  the  street  one  day, 
I  saw  a  large  tub  nearly  full  of  curious  creatures, 
fed,  like  lobsters,  but  which  looked  like  grasshop- 
pers. The  aged  market-woman  thought  it  was 
an  imposition  upon  her  when,  in  my  ignorance,  I 
inquired  what  they  were.  Being  invited  one 
evening  to  a  private  dinner  party  at  the  Euston 
hotel,  among  the  curious  dishes  in  one  of  the 
courses  offered  for  my  entertainment  were  these 
peculiar  creatures  just  mentioned;  but  I  found 
that  shrimps  were  very  crisp  and  very  palatable. 

Among  the  brightest  and  most  enjoyable  days 
in  London  were  those  spent  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum. Upon  the  presentation  of  a  letter  from 
the  New  Hampshire  Historical  Society,  I  was 
shown  all  desired  courtesies,  and  had  a  pleas- 
ant interview  with  the  chief  librarian.     Received 


272  THE  BRITISH  MUSEUM. 

a  reader's  ticket,  which  gave  me  access  to  the 
reading-room  for  six  months.  The  British  Mu- 
seum is  a  magnificent  collection  of  innumerable 
curiosities  and  valuable  articles.  Its  library  is  the 
second  in  size  in  the  world,  and  only  surpassed 
by  the  one  in  Paris.  It  contains  1,500,000  books, 
and  50,000  Mss.  The  catalogue,  as  it  exists  in 
MSS.  volumes,  is  awkward,  cumbersome,  and  bad- 
ly arranged.  A  printed  one  is  being  prepared, 
and  will  be  invaluable.  Seventy  volumes  and 
more  are  in  print.  In  a  decade  the  work  will 
be  completed,  as  thirty  volumes  a  year  are  fin- 
ished. 

The  use  of  the  reading-room  is  restricted  to 
persons  for  study  and  research.  In  order  to  have 
a  ticket,  one  must  apply  to  the  librarian  and  bring 
good  testimonials.  I  was  in  this  room  several 
days,  and  was  interested  to  see  the  great  number 
making  use  of  the  library.  One  of  my  pleasant 
surprises  there  was  in  meeting  a  lady  of  my  own 
name  from  Boston,  with  whose  family  I  was  ac- 
quainted. Our  countrymen,  Henry  Stevens*  & 
Son,  furnish  the  library  usually  with  American 
publications.  It  afforded  me  pleasure  to  meet 
Mr.  Stevens  at  his  place  of  business,  115  St.  Mar- 
tin's Lane,  Charing  Cross. 

One  could  spend  his  life  in  study  in  the  mu- 
seum. The  sculptures  from  Nineveh,  found  in 
the   Assyrian    galleries,   engage    one's    attention 

*  Mr.  Stevens  died  recently. 


TITLE-DEEDS  OF  BABYLON.  273 

closely.  Carvings  of  battle  scenes  of  the  Nin- 
evites,  the  dogs  with  collars,  the  deer  feeding, 
the  dejected  appearance  of  captives  taken,  and 
the  spoils  of  war,  are  all  delineated  with  graphic 
power.  These  figures  are  covered  with  historical 
carvings  in  strange  characters. 

From  Babylon  were  the  title-deeds  to  property, 
not  written  upon  paper  or  parchment,  but  ele- 
gantly carved  in  stone  of  various  lengths,  from 
four  inches  in  length  by  two  in  breadth  to  those 
of  considerable  size.  In  the  Egyptian  depart- 
ment were  colossal  sculptures  from  Egypt  of 
many  kinds,  and  well  preserved.  There  is  the 
huge  stone  statue  of  Rameses  II,  the  Pharaoh  of 
Israelitish  times.  Stone  coffins  were  there.  On 
the  w^alls  of  one  staircase  were  the  written  doc- 
uments of  the  Egyptians,  which  are  on  rolls  made 
of  the  papyrus.  In  another  room  was  pointed 
out  a  blue  box  in  which  were  the  reputed  bones 
of  one  of  the  Pharaohs.  Other  rooms  were  filled 
with  rare  old  books  and  old  bindings;  while  in 
still  another  were  many  artists,  ladies  and  gentle- 
men, making  models  in  clay  of  nude  figures,  and 
copying  from  celebrated  statues. 

Time  was  flying ;  other  places  must  be  seen, 
and  among  them  was  St.  Paul's  cathedral.  Going 
from  the  Strand,  with  its  hustling  crowds,  through 
Fleet  street,  we  soon  reached  the  church.  Though 
it  is  one  of  the  most  prominent  features  of  Lon- 
don, this  edifice  is  the  third  church  upon  the  site 


274  ST.  PAUVS  CHURCH. 

dedicated  to  St.  Paul.  In  6io  the  first  was 
erected,  and  was  burned  in  1087.  The  second 
was  destroyed  in  the  great  London  fire,  1666,  and 
the  first  stone  of  this  building  was  laid  June  21, 
1675,  and  completed  in  17 10.  On  the  tomb  of 
the  architect,  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  were  these 
words:  "Reader,  if  thou  seekest  his  monument, 
look  around." 

The  building  is  too  great  to  be  described  here 
in  detail.  It  fronts  Ludgate  Hill.  Its  length  is 
550  feet,  width  125  and  180  feet,  and  height 
to  the  top  of  the  cross  370  feet.  There  are  two 
towers  222  feet  high.  All  portions  of  the  build- 
ing were  visited.  From  the  top  is  an  excellent 
view  of  London,  or  what  one  can  see  of  it.  For 
many  miles  little  can  be  seen  except  the  roofs 
of  buildings,  with  an  occasional  glimpse  of  a  green 
court-yard  and  its  shady  trees,  with  the  winding 
Thames  and  its  numerous  bridges.  Many  of  Eng- 
land's heroes  are  sleeping  here.  A  monument  to 
Major  General  Robert  Ross,  who  burned  the  cap- 
itol  city  of  Washington,  with  many  of  the  public 
archives,  in  the  War  of  181 2-' 15,  is  here.  It  was 
an  act  of  vandalism  unworthy  of  any  civilized 
commander,  the  same  as  it  would  be  if  by  the 
chances  of  war  London  should  fall  into  the  hands 
of  an  enemy  which  should  burn  the  houses  of 
parliament,  Westminster  abbey,  and  St.  Paul's 
cathedral,  with  their  priceless  treasures.  To  the 
credit   of  the    British   nation,  this  act  was   never 


MONUMENT  TO  LORD   CORNVVALLIS.  275 

approved  by  them,  though  the  following  inscrip- 
tion would  seem  to  indicate  the  contrary: 

"  Erected  at  the  public  expense  to  the  memory  of 
Major  General  Rov.ert  Ross, 
Who  having  undertaken  and  executed  an  enterprise 
against  the  city  of  Washington,  the  capital  of 
the  United  States  of  America, 
which  was  crowned  with  complete  success, 
he  was  killed  shortly  afterwards  while  directing  a  success- 
ful attack  upon  a  superior  force,  near  the  city  of 
Baltimore,  on  the  12th  day  of  September,  1814." 

There  is  a  monument  to  Lord  Cornwallis, 
while  near  it  is  one  to  Lord  Nelson,  the  peerless 
naval  commander ;  and  not  far  distant,  sculptured 
in  full  uniform,  are  Generals  Packenham  and 
Gibbs,  who  fell  in  the  attack  upon  the  American 
works  at  New  Orleans,  January  8,  1815.  Another 
is  to  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  who  died  October  13,  18 12, 
in  resisting  an  attack  of  American  troops  on 
Queenstown,  Upper  Canada.  Sir  John  Moore, 
who,  the  poet  says,  was  "buried  at  dead  of 
night,"  but  who  was  not,  is  also  remembered  fit- 
tingly here.  Wellington,  as  well  as  Nelson,  rests 
here,  and  has  a  magnificent  memorial.  His  body 
was  placed  in  a  pine  coffin,  this  in  a  lead  one  of 
unusual  thickness  and  strength,  and  the  latter 
encased  in  a  handsomely  finished  one  of  English 
oak.     The  case  is  of  solid  Spanish  mahogany. 

Not  only  are  the  illustrious  ones  who  contrib- 
uted to  England's  glory  in  the  field  or  on  the 
wave  inurned  or  remembered,  but  also  her  brilliant 
sons  who  have  won  fame  in  more  honored  fields. 


2/6 


TOWER   OF  LONDON. 


Here  is  a  monument  to  John  Howard,  the  philan- 
thropist, whom  the  world  honors,  and  which  pays 
him  a  debt  of  admiration  and  gratitude.  Dr.  Sam- 
uel Johnson  is  remembered  by  a  statue.  Here 
is  a  monument  to  the  historian  Henry  Hallam, 
who  died  January  21,  1849. 

The  whispering  gallery  is  reached  by  260  steps. 
Standing  at  one  side,  one  can  hear  distinctly  whis- 
pering upon  the  opposite  side.  The  great  clock, 
and  bell,  and  library,  and  many  other  things,  are 
objects  of  great  interest. 

My  visit  to  the  Tower  of  London  was  not  on  a 
pleasant   day.     It    had   been    dark,   gloomy,   and 

foreboded  rain;  and  after 
the  place  was  reached  the 
rain  fell  copiously  and  with- 
o  u  t  intermission.  T  h  e 
tower  itself,  with  what  lies 
within  it,  is  a  history  of 
the  past.  It  is  in  the 
heart  of  the  city,  and  its  record  is  one  of  strange- 
ness, of  sadness,  and  reaches  backward  into  the 
dim  past.  William  the  Conqueror  in  1078  built 
the  White  Tower,  and  the  remainder  has  been 
added  by  different  monarchs.  Entering  this 
gloomy,  forbidding,  yet  fascinating  building,  one 
of  the  first  objects  to  engage  the  attention  was 
the  dingy,  unattractive  room  called  the  Jewel 
Tower,  where  are  kept  the  regalia  or  crown  jew- 
els.    An  iron  fence  with  upright  bars  surrounds 


THE   CROWN  JEWELS.  2'J'J 

the  Spot,  and  they  are  carefully  preserved  in  glass 
cases.  It  is  a  fine  show.  The  amount  of  gold, 
diamonds,  pearls,  and  shining  rubies  is  delightful 
for  the  eyes  to  see.  Victoria's  crown  is  there, — 
a  cap  of  purple  velvet  enclosed  with  loops  of  sil- 
ver, while  rising  above  it,  and  brilliant  with  dia- 
monds, are  a  ball  and  cross.  The  centre  of  the 
latter  is  a  wonderful  sapphire ;  and  a  heart-shaped 
ruby  in  front  is  said  to  have  been  worn  by  the 
Black  Prince. 

St.  Edward's  crown,  made  for  Charles  II,  and 
always  used  at  a  coronation,  the  crown  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  of  pure  gold  without  jewels,  the 
ancient  queen's  crown,  worn  at  coronations  by 
the  queen  consort,  are  there.  Then  there  was 
the  queen's  diadem,  adorned  with  costly  pearls 
and  diamonds,  made  for  the  queen  of  James  11^ 
the  royal  sceptre,  St.  Edward's  staff,  four  feet 
seven  inches  long,  of  pure  gold,  the  small  sceptre, 
the  rod  or  sceptre  with  the  dove,  the  ivory  scep- 
tre, the  golden  sceptre,  the  cutana  or  pointless 
sword  of  mercy,  the  swords  of  justice,  the  coro- 
nation bracelets,  the  coronation  spurs,  the  anoint- 
ing vessel  and  spoon,  golden  salt-cellar,  and  the 
dishes,  plates,  and  spoons  used  when  any  mem- 
ber of  the  royal  family  is  christened,  and  numer- 
ous other  evidences  of  the  costliness  of  royalty. 
It  makes  a  fine  appearance;  and  if  the  whole 
could  be  sold,  and  the  proceeds,  used  as  a  fund, 
given  to  the  poor  people  of  Ireland  who  starve 


278  HORSES  AND  MEN  IN  ARMOR. 

periodically,  it  would  be  an  act  of  mercy.  The 
value  of  the  jewels  is  estimated  at  nine  million 
dollars. 

The  Horse  Armory  is  filled  with  equestrian  fig- 
ures clad  in  complete  armor,  such  as  was  used 
through  several  centuries.  Horses  and  men  are 
heavily  protected.  Down  the  length  of  the  long 
room  are  the  equestrian  figures  clad  with  the 
very  armor  worn  by  the  men  whose  names  they 
bear.  Arms  of  all  ages  and  of  every  country  are 
in  this  and  other  halls,  and  one  million  rifles  ready 
for  use  are  said  to  stand  there. 

It  takes  many  buildings  collectively  to  make 
the  Tower,  which  is,  and  always  has  been,  a  for- 
tress. In  one  of  the  courts  is  the  place  where 
Anne  Boleyn,  the  Earl  of  Essex,  and  Lady  Jane 
Grey  were  executed.  A  railing  and  stone  mark 
the  place,  with  the  words,  "Site  of  the  ancient 
scaffold."  On  this  spot  Queen  Anne  Boleyn  was 
beheaded  May  19,  1536. 

Instruments  of  torture  are  shown  the  visitor. 
There  is  the  headsman's  block,  and  the  very  axe 
he  used,  and  the  identical  mask  he  wore  when 
engaged  in  his  horrible  work.  The  thumb  screw 
as  applied  was  not  a  pleasant  experience,  and 
the  rack  with  the  person  laid  in  a  box,  with  ropes 
tied  to  ankles  and  wrists,  and  the  windlasses 
turned  till  the  subject's  joints  were  dislocated,  was 
not  a  thing  to  be  greatly  desired. 

In  the   Beauchamp  Tower,  where   Philip,  Earl 


THE    TRAITOR'S   GATE.  279 

of  Arundel,  was  confined  for  ten  years  on  sus- 
picion of  trying  to  aid  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  is 
still  to  be  seen  his  inscription  on  the  wall:  "Even 
as  it  is  an  infamy  to  be  imprisoned  on  account  of 
crime,  so,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  the  greatest  glory 
to  endure  prison  chains  for  Christ's  sake."  In 
the  chapel  of  St.  Peter's  ad  Vincula  are  buried 
many  famous  persons  who  fell  under  royal  dis- 
pleasure. 

Traitor's  Gate  was  an  entrance  to  the  Tower 
for  those  prisoners  brought  from  the  water.  The 
Bloody  Tower  was  where  the  infant  princes,  sons 
of  Edward  IV,  were  murdered  by  Richard  III.  So 
the  record  might  go  on  of  what  is  to  be  seen 
there,  of  the  scenes  of  peril,  agony,  and  woe 
enacted  there,  but  which  are  all  of  the  past.  It 
seems  that  the  progress  and  elevation  of  mankind 
have  been  through  suffering,  sacrifice,  and  blood. 
Such  has  been  the  case  of  the  Mother  Country; 
and  through  that  fiery  ordeal,  extending  through 
long  centuries,  the  England  of  to-day,  in  its  proud 
position  and  with  its  many  privileges,  has  been 
developed  from  the  England  of  the  past. 

Longing  for  more  sights  than  I  had  seen,  like 
Don  Quixote  I  again  sallied  forth  in  quest  of  ad- 
venture. Quitting  Piccadilly,  Hyde  Park  was 
entered,  with  its  388  acres  of  beauty.  Any  pleas- 
ant afternoon  can  there  be  seen  the  most  magnifi- 
cent turnouts  in  the  kingdom,  with  the  nobility 
and  people  of  the  highest  rank.     At  Prince's  Gate, 


28o  THE  ALBERT  MEMORIAL. 

near  the  spot  where  the  exhibition  of  185 1  was 
held,  is  the  Albert  Memorial,  one  of  the  most  mag- 
nificent monuments  in  the  world,  the  spire  reach- 
ing to  the  height  of  175  feet.  Under  the  canopy 
is  a  gilt  statue  of  Prince  Albert  fifteen  feet  high. 
Four  flights  of  steps  lead  to  it,  130  feet  wide. 
Each  of  the  four  angles  is  represented  by  a  group 
of  statues  representing  one  of  the  four  grand  divi- 
sions of  the  earth,  while  the  base  is  surrounded 
by  200  life-size  figures  of  noted  men  of  different 
times.  The  expense  of  this  splendid  work  of  art 
was  $720,000.  When  one  sees  this,  the  questions 
arise,  Why  this  expense  ?  What  did  Prince  Albert 
ever  do  to  merit  it?  He  was  a  pleasant,  agree- 
able, accomplished  gentleman,  and  was  the  hus- 
band of  the  queen.  These  are  his  claims.  The 
money  to  pay  for  this  monumental  folly  eventually 
comes  out  of  the  overtaxed  people.  England  has 
many  men  vastly  superior  to  him,  not  of  royal 
blood,  who  have  done  more  for  their  country,  who 
merit  a  monument  more  than  he,  but  to  whom 
none  will  ever  be  erected. 

Royal  Albert  Hall,  in  the  vicinity,  is  as  beauti- 
ful as  it  is  immense  ;  will  hold,  when  crowded, 
11,000  people,  and  will  seat  comfortably  8,000. 
It  has  the  largest  organ  in  the  world.  The  hall 
is  circular  in  form,  and  is  covered  with  a  glass 
dome.  Its  cost  was  nearly  a  million  dollars,  and 
it  is  used  for  concerts,  balls,  and  exhibitions. 

The  gardens  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society 


THE   CRYSTAL  PALACE.  28 1 

are  near,  and  there  I  attended  the  International 
Health  Exhibition.  Of  the  South  Kensington 
Museum,  with  its  picture  galleries,  library,  collec- 
tions of  antiques  and  curiosities,  and  number- 
less other  treasures,  I  will  not  attempt  to  speak. 
They  were  examined  with  profit.  The  Kensing- 
ton gardens,  of  210  acres,  are  finely  cared  for,  and 
are  worthy  of  many  visits.  Music  is  discoursed 
by  an  excellent  band,  and  great  numbers  of  peo- 
ple frequent  the  place  daily. 

The  Crystal  Palace,  at  Sydenham,  was  another 
place  visited.  The  grounds  upon  which  it  is  sit- 
uated are  extensive,  very  elevated,  and  very  beau- 
tiful. From  the  loftiest  towers  about  this  palace 
of  glass,  which  are  282  feet  high,  there  are  mag- 
nificent views  of  the  country  for  miles.  The 
grounds  are  elaborately  laid  out,  and  beautiful 
with  beds  of  flowers,  green  lawns,  trees,  and  flow- 
ing fountains.  In  1853-54  this  establishment  was 
erected,  and  it  is  composed  of  many  of  the  mate- 
rials of  the  Crystal  Palace  of  185 1.  It  is  1,608 
feet  in  length,  with  aisles  and  transepts  of  great 
length,  width,  and  height.  In  this  building  is  a 
wonderful  collection  of  things  to  delight  the  eye 
and  to  gratify  the  taste.  Like  the  leaves  of  the 
forest,  they  are  so  numerous  it  seems  like  an  im- 
possible task  to  attempt  a  description. 

One    afternoon    a  London    friend  took  me   to 
Hampstead   heath,  which   contains  240  acres   of 
land.     We  were  on  a  half-day's  stroll,  and  wan- 
13 


282 


THE  LIQUOR  SHOPS  OF  LONDON. 


dered  through  many  old  streets  and  quaint  thor- 
oughfares. 

In  all  business  parts  of  London,  and  in  all 
those  portions  "where  anybody  that  is  anybody" 
does  not  reside,  the  liquor-shops  are  alarmingly 
numerous,  which  vast  throngs  of  men  and  women 
frequent.  What  surprised  me  was  the  7i07tcha- 
lant  air  with  which  they  enter  them,  it  being  with 
as  much  freedom  as  they  would  pass  into  a  gro- 
cery or  bake-shop.  Women  and  girls  stand  at 
the  bar  and  drink  liquors ;  and  girls,  young  and 
handsome,  are  almost  universally  the  bar-tenders. 
The  government  derives  a  great  income  from  the 
tax  upon  liquors;  and  there  must  be  a  marvellous 
reform  in  the  habits  of  all  classes  of  the  people 
before  the   English  or  British  people  become   a 

temperate  nation.  This 
is  a  place  for  the  temper- 
ance reformers,  and  the 
fields    are   white   for  the 


harvest. 

England  owes  a  debt 
of  gratitude  to  William 
Caxton.  He  was  born 
in  Weald,  County  Kent, 
about  1422,  and  died  in 
caxton's  Press.  1 49 1  or  1 49 2.     He  intro- 

duced the  art  of  printing  into  England,  having 
established  himself  as  a  printer  at  Westminster 
previous  to  1477.     His  office  was  in  the  Almonry. 


THROUGH  THE  PARLIAMENT  BUILDINGS.        283 

While  in  London  I  met  Hon.  Thomas  Bio-aer, 
M.  P.,  one  of  the  Irish  members,  and  a  National- 
ist, and  also  made  the  acquaintance  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Kinnear,  JM.  P.,  from  the  north  of  Ireland,  an 
agreeable,  fine  gentleman.  Parliament  was  then 
in  session,  and  he  seldom  returned  to  the  hotel 
till  3  o'clock  in  the  morning,  having  been  in  at- 
tendance upon  legislative  duties  all  night.  By  his 
kind  invitation  we  left  our  hotel,  and  when  near 
the  Egyptian  obelisk,  mentioned  on  page  253, 
took  a  boat  upon  the  Thames,  and  when 
opposite  the  parliament  buildings  disem- 
barked and  entered  from  the  water  a  pri- 
vate passage-way  for  the  members.  He 
showed  me  every  part  of  the  noble  edi- 
fice, occupying  three  hours.  Was  in  the 
chapel  under  the  parliament  buildings  where 
monks  worshipped  many  hundred  years  ago;  was 
in  the  room  where  Cromwell  signed  the  death- 
warrant  of  Charles  I ;  stood  on  the  pavement 
directly  beneath  which  Guy  Fawkes  had  arranged 
to  blow  up  the  parliament ;  was  in  the  various 
committee-rooms,  in  some  of  which  the  destiny  of 
empires  has  been  decided ;  in  the  commons,  and 
saw  the  marks  upon  a  table  made  by  the  ring  on 
Gladstone's  finger,  for,  as  he  speaks,  he  strikes 
his  hand  heavily  upon  the  desk, — and  came  away 
greatly  gratified,  and  with  samples  of  stationery 
used  by  the  lords  and  commons  bearing  the  seal 
of  Great   Britain.     My   facilities   for   seeing   and 


284  WESTMINSTER  HALL. 

hearing  were  exceptional,  and  were  profitably  and 
pleasantly  improved. 

I  was  frequently  at  Westminster.  Westminster 
Hall  is  290  feet  long,  68  feet  wide,  and  90  feet 
high.  It  is  considered  the  grandest  in  the  world, 
and  visitors  universally  admire  the  lofty  oaken 
roof.  There  parliament  assembled  as  early  as  the 
year  1248,  and  the  high  courts  of  justice  were 
held  here  for  750  years.  There  Sir  William  Wal- 
lace and  Charles  I,  in  different  centuries,  were 
tried  and  condemned  to  death.  There  Cromwell 
was  inaugurated  Protector,  and  Charles  II  was 
proclaimed  king  May  8,  1660.  Warren  Hastings 
there  underwent  his  famous  and  eventful  trial 
of  seven  years.  In  the  glowing  words  of  Ma- 
caulay,  it  is  "the  great  hall  of  William  Rufus; 
the  hall  which  had  resounded  with  acclamations  at 
the  inaugurations  of  thirty  kings ;  the  hall  which 
had  witnessed  the  just  sentence  of  Bacon,  and  the 
just  absolution  of  Somers;  the  hall  where  the  elo- 
quence of  Stratford  had  for  a  moment  awed  and 
melted  a  victorious  party  inflamed  with  just  resent- 
ment; the  hall  where  Charles  had  confronted  the 
hicrh  court  of  justice  with  the  placid  courage  which 
has  half  redeemed  his  fame."  An  immense  win- 
dow of  stained  glass,  which  is  a  picture  of  beauty 
when  the  sun  shines  upon  it,  is  opposite  the  en- 
trance. The  private  entrance  of  the  members  to 
the  House  of  Commons  is  half  way  up  the  hall, 
upon   the  left   side.     The   long,   narrow   passage 


ENTRANCE    TO  HOUSE   OF  COMMONS.  285 

leads  to  the  inner  lobby  of  the  commons.  Ascend- 
ing a  flight  of  stone  steps  at  the  termination  of 
the  hall,  one  is  admitted  to  the  archway  entrance 
to  the  House  of  Commons  upon  the  left,  and  the 
House  of  Lords  upon  the  right.  The  visitors' 
entrance  to  both  houses  is  through  a  long  marble 
hall  or  gallery,  which  is  very  beautiful,  and  lined 
with  rare  and  costly  paintings.  It  is  strange  that 
in  British  art  galleries  one  sees  hardly  an  object 
to  commemorate  any  event  important  to  America, 
or  which  in  any  way  alludes  to  Briton's  proud  daugh- 
ter across  the  seas.  She  has  not  been  generous 
in  this  respect  to  her  relatives  in  this  hemisphere, 
as  such  paintings  would  gladden  the  heart  of  every 
American  when  he  visited  the  old  home,  the  coun- 
try from  which  came  his  ancestors,  and  where  they 
lived.  There  is,  however,  upon  this  wall  one 
painting  of  this  description, — about  the  only  one 
I  saw  in  England, — the  Embarking  of  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  for  New  England.  It  is  a  fitting  memento 
of  that  heroic  group  who 


"  Shook  the  depths  of  tlic  desert  gloom 
With  their  hymns  of  lofty  cheer. 

%  %  %  %  %  ^  % 

"Amidst  the  storm  they  sang, 

And  the  stars  heard,  and  the  sea; 
And  the  sounding  aisles  of  the  dim  woods  rang 

To  the  anthem  of  the  free." 


Policemen  are   everywhere.     They   are   at   the 
members'  private  entrance,  and  gracefully  salute 


286        DIFFICULTIES  IN  VISITING  PARLIAMENT. 

each  member  as  he  passes  in,  on  the  flight  of 
steps  at  the  door  formerly  spoken  of,  and  two 
stand  at  a  large  door  which  admits  those  who 
have  tickets  from  the  members  into  a  waiting- 
room,  where  they  remain  till  there  is  room  for 
them  in  the  strangers'  gallery. 

Marble  statues  of  eminent  statesmen  line  the 
walls,  which  visitors  can  look  upon  as  they  sit 
on  leather-covered  seats  which  extend  the  length 
of  the  hall  impatiently  waiting  to  see  Britain's  liv- 
ing statesmen.  There  is  great  difficulty  in  getting 
into  the  House  of  Commons,  but  there  are  two 
ways  of  doing  it.  One  is  to  bribe  a  policeman, 
which  can  usually  be  done.  But  commonly  a 
stranger  must  be  invited  by  a  member,  and  must 
show  his  ticket  to  the  police,  who  line  the  door- 
ways and  corridors,  before  he  can  enter.  In  the 
strangers'  gallery  there  is  room  for  two  hundred 
persons,  and  often  there  are  many  hundreds  of 
applicants.  Therefore  visitors'  names  must  be 
balloted  for  several  days  before  the  proposed  visit. 
The  ladies'  gallery  is  at  the  end  opposite  the  one 
for  strangers,  and  is  small,  and  the  faces  of  the 
fair  auditors  are  partially  hidden  by  a  screen  or 
glass.  Our  congress  commences  its  sessions  at 
midday ;  parliament  does  not  commence  its  pub- 
lic business  till  4:30  p.  m.,  so  the  sessions  are  pro- 
longed far  into  the  night,  and  oftentimes  till  near 
morninof.  The  members  of  each  house  can  sit 
with  their  hats  on,  but  all  do  not  do  so. 


IN  THE  HOUSE   OF  LORDS.  287 

While  waiting  in  Westminster  one  day,  a  gen- 
tleman passed  a  policeman,  when  the  latter  po- 
litely asked  him  to  open  his  satchel  which  he  car- 
ried. He  did  so,  with  some  annoyance.  "Why 
is  this?"  "Oh!  we  have  to  look  out  for  dyna- 
mite," said  the  policeman.  Every  possible  method 
was  adopted  to  prevent  it  from  being  carried  into 
the  building.  Another  time,  when  standing  in 
the  long  line  to  send  in  my  card  to  a  member,  a 
gentleman  touched  me  upon  the  shoulder.  It 
was  Rev.  Mr.  Graham,  a  Presbyterian  clergyman 
of  Philadelphia,  a  fellow-passenger  on  the  City  of 
Chicago.  We  had  parted  at  Queenstown  months 
before.  He  had  been  to  Palestine,  and  was  on 
his  return.     The  meeting  was  very  pleasant. 

I  was  shown  into  the  gallery  of  the  House  of 
Lords.  At  one  end  was  an  elegant  chair,  which 
was  the  throne,  reached  by  two  or  three  steps. 
There  the  queen  sits  upon  state  occasions.  In 
front,  on  a  sort  of  table  called  the  woolsack,  sat 
the  presiding  officer,  the  high  lord  chancellor,  in 
his  robes  of  office.     At  his  rio-ht  were  the  white- 

o 

robed  lord  bishops  of  the  Established  Church.  The 
remainder  of  the  lords  were  dressed  in  plain  black 
suits.  One  hundred  and  twenty  members  were 
present.  The  lords  were  discussing  a  bird  bill. 
Neither  the  subject  nor  the  discussion  was  inter- 
esting. From  the  personal  appearance  of  the 
lords,  and  their  manner  of  elucidating  the  subject 
under  discussion,  they  did  not  impress  me  as  being 


288  THE  HOUSE   OF  COMMONS. 

at  all  superior  to  any  body  of  intelligent  men. 
It  is  doubtful  if  they  are  equal  in  ability  to  the 
United  States  senate.  The  hall  where  the  lords 
meet  is  a  most  costly  and  magnificent  room.  The 
gilding  and  carved  work,  and  the  twelve  windows 
of  stained  glass,  are  all  of  great  beauty.  Elegant 
frescoes  decorate  the  walls.  I  was  peculiarly  for- 
tunate in  securing;  admission  to  the  House  of 
Commons.  Having  a  letter  of  introduction  to  Sir 
Thomas  McClure,  M.  P.,  from  Belfast,  Ireland,  he 
very  kindly  showed  me  to  a  front  seat  in  the 
speaker's  gallery,  a  few  feet  at  the  right  of  the 
seat  of  the  Prince  of  Wales.  The  whole  gallery 
was  packed  with  visitors.  Looking  about  to  see 
who  were  my  companions,  I  noticed  at  my  side 
four  copper-colored  gentlemen.  The  face  of  one 
was  completely  tattooed.  His  ears  were  so  large 
that  they  might  have  been  pinned  back  to  the 
sides  of  his  head.  There  was  a  great  hole  in  one 
ear,  with  a  stupendous  ear-ring  with  a  little  red 
flag  appended.  This  was  the  Maori  king,  from 
New  Zealand,  who  was  on  a  visit  to  England  with 
his  suite.  They  were  not  bad  looking  men,  and 
were  watching  with  deep  attention  the  proceed- 
ings in  the  commons.  The  question  under  dis- 
cussion was  "woman  suffrage."  Mr.  Gladstone, 
the  premier,  sat  at  the  right  of  the  speaker,  and 
interjected  a  remark  occasionally,  but  made  no  set 
speech.  Many  members  spoke,  but  I  have  heard 
much  better  speaking  in  our  state  legislatures. 


THE  FRANCHISE  BILL.  289 

The  franchise  bill  was  to  come  before  the 
house  on  a  certain  day,  and  I  was  anxious  to  be 
present.  It  was  a  pet  measure  of  Mr.  Gladstone's, 
and  one  of  very  great  importance,  for  by  its  pro- 
visions, if  carried,  the  right  of  suffrage  would  be 
given  to  more  than  three  millions  of  men.  An 
English  friend  had  considerately  given  me  a  letter 
of  introduction  to  Hon.  Herbert  Gladstone,  son  of 
the  premier.  At  the  appointed  time  this,  with  my 
card,  was  sent  to  him,  when  he  came  out  and 
greeted  me  most  kindly,  and  secured  me  a  seat 
near  my  former  one  in  the  speaker's  gallery. 

This  Mr.  Gladstone  is  a  young  man  not  much 
over  thirty,  apparently,  modest,  free,  and  gentle- 
manly, pleasing  in  his  address  and  un-English 
in  his  manners.  Some  twelve  members  spoke 
during  the  discussion.  They  are  not  orators; 
they  are  not  good  speakers,  as  a  whole.  They 
have  not  the  fire,  vigor,  and  fluency  of  Americans. 
The  most  of  them  hesitate,  and  have  a  hitch  at  the 
end  of  a  sentence  similar  to  some  Freewill  Baptist 
preachers,  which  is  not  agreeable  to  hear.  When 
a  speaker  gave  utterance  to  thoughts  not  be- 
lieved in  by  his  fellow-members,  the  cries  of  "Oh! 
oh!  oh!"  or  "Hear!  hear!  hear!"  or  "Ah!  ah! 
ah!"  each  cry  quickly  repeated  with  greater  vol- 
ume of  voice  and  with  a  rising  inflection,  was  very 
laughable  to  a  looker  on,  but  not  so  to  one  mem- 
ber who  was  speaking,  who  was  nearly  silenced 
by  them.  The  speaker  sat  motionless,  like  a 
13* 


290  SIR  STAFFORD  NORTHCOTE. 

Stick  in  the  mud,  careless,  and  made  not  the 
sHghtest  effort  to  preserve  order.  There  was  no 
revelation  in  his  countenance.  He  wears  a  full 
bottomed  wig,  and  was  in  his  robes  of  office. 
Three  clerks  in  short  wigs  sat  in  front  of  him. 
Sir  Stafford  Northcote,  a  strong  man,  and  leader 
of  the  opposition,  sat  opposite  Mr.  Gladstone,  and 
spoke.  He  is  a  thorough  Englishman  in  his  man- 
ner, looks,  and  speech.  His  hair  was  gray,  he 
wore  long,  gray  whiskers,  and  was  slow  and  la- 
bored in  his  style  of  speaking.  Stolid  and  cold, 
phlegmatic  in  manner,  he  would  not  awaken  any 
bursts  of  enthusiasm,  or  lead  captive  the  hearts  of 
men.  Members  whose  names  were  unknown  to 
me  discussed  the  question,  and  one  made  allusion 
to  woman  suffrage  in  Wyoming  territory. 

But  there  was  one  man,  nearly  eighty  years  of 
age,  of  great  eloquence  and  wonderful  vitality, 
whose  face  I  had  studied  closely,  and  whom  I 
hoped  to  hear ;  a  man  who  makes  politics  the 
business  of  his  life,  and  for  recreation  delves  in 
the  highest  departments  of  literature  ;  who  is  a 
hard  student ;  who  has  all  the  good  things  of 
life,  and  yet  lives  temperately;  who  is  a  good 
churchman,  attends  services  in  the  abbey,  and 
attends  theatres  and  the  race-course ;  one  who 
mingles  freely  with  his  fellow-men,  who  loves 
them,  and  is  loved  by  them;  who  can  walk 
daily  many  miles,  and  swing  an  axe  as  vigor- 
ously on  his  own  estate  for  exercise  as  our  rail- 


WILLIAM  E.   GLADSTONE. 


291 


splitting;  president  did  in  his  youth.  At  last  he 
arose  to  speak.  It  was  Gladstone,  the  premier. 
He  spoke  with  the  readiness,  the  acuteness,  and 
the  clearness  of  an  American.  He  seems  like  an 
American  in  his  looks,  speech,  and  appearance, 
and  does  not  appear  like  an  Englishman.  He  is 
apparently  better  adapted  to  letters  than  to  the 
contentions  of  political  life.  The  sentences  fell 
from  his  lips  with  fluency,  yet  finished  and  com- 
plete.    Mr.  Gladstone,  physically,  has  nothing  of 


William   E.  Gladstone. 

that  ponderousness  which  is  attributed  to  Web- 
ster. He  has  light  complexion,  and  features,  in  his 
old  age,  which  are  rather  sharp,  with  a  face  so  cul- 
tivated, so  sensitive,  and  so  refined  as  to  be  capa- 
ble of  expressing  in  a  manner  the  most  forcible 
the  widest  and  most  varying  shades  of  human  feel- 
ing.     His   eyes  are  wonderfully  captivating,  and 


292  GLADSTONE'S  PREEMINENCE. 

when  lighted  up  his  whole  soul  is  in  them.  It 
seems  utterly  impossible  for  any  human  being  to 
possess  such  features,  face,  and  eyes  as  Gladstone 
has,  and  not  be  capable  of  the  most  exquisite  en- 
joyment or  the  keenest  mental  suffering.  Of  an 
infinitely  higher  nature  than  Bismarck's,  with  a  lof- 
tier manhood  and  a  more  elevated  statesmanship, 
he  has  led  Britain  by  the  transcendent  powers  of 
his  intellect,  while  the  great  Prussian  rules  Ger- 
many by  the  iron  hand  of  force.  In  all  of  Glad- 
stone's looks,  bearing,  and  appearance  there  is 
not  even  an  insinuation  of  grossness.  He  is  a 
polished  gentleman,  whom  any  person  can  meet 
with  perfect  freedom,  and  who  is  guided  and 
controlled  by  the  highest  sentiments  and  feel- 
ings of  his  intellectual  and  moral  nature.  Such 
he  appears  to  be  :  such  his  friends  claim  that  he 
is.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  this  age, 
Gladstone  is  preeminently  the  greatest  living 
statesman. 


CHAPTER    XII. 


ON   THE    CONTINENT. 


] IMPATIENT  to  be  upon  the  Continent,  while 
?  loath  to  leave  London,  tickets  were  secured 
for  a  tour  through  Belgium,  Germany,  Switzer- 
land, and  France,  and  back  to  London.  At  8 
o'clock  p.  M.,  on  June  17,  I  left  the  Liverpool 
Street  station  for  Harwich,  Antwerp,  and  the 
Rhine.  A  run  of  seventy  miles  brought  us  to 
Harwich,  where  at  10  p.  m.  we  took  a  steamer 
across  the  choppy  English  Channel  to  Antwerp. 
In  the  brightness  of  the  early  morning  we  passed, 
for  several  hours,  through  a  flat,  not  uninterest- 
ing country,  where  were  the  new-mown  hay,  and 
lines  of  trees  regularly  and  neatly  pruned  of  limbs 
for  some  fifteen  feet  from  the  ground,  which  stood 
between  the  fields.  Rain  had  fallen  during  the 
night,  and  everything  was  clear  and  fresh  and 
beautiful  when  we  reached  Antwerp,  a  city  of 
200,000  inhabitants,  and  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing cities  in  Belgium.  The  city  has  been  illus- 
trious in  its  day.  There  is  a  claim  that  it  was 
founded  before  the  eighth  century  by  a  Saxon 
people.  The  main  provisions  of  the  Habeas  Cor- 
pus Act  of  England,  declaring  the  right  of  every 


294  CELEB R A  TED  PAINTINGS  IN  ANTWERP. 

man  to  be  tried  by  his  peers,  to  have  a  voice  in 
the  raising  of  taxes,  and  claiming  the  inviolabihty 
of  the  dwelhng  of  a  citizen,  were  engrafted  in  the 
law  of  the  city  in  1290.  At  one  time  it  was 
of  great  commercial  importance.  Five  hundred 
ships  have  in  a  day  entered  its  port,  and  2,500 
been  anchored  upon  the  river  Scheldt  at  a  time. 
The  ancient  fortifications  were  demolished  in  i860, 
and  beautiful  boulevards,  streets,  and  avenues 
have  since  been  laid  out.  Many  of  its  streets 
look  old,  and  are  quite  narrow.  Broad  avenues, 
with  rows  of  trees  and  walks,  run  through  the 
centre  of  the  boulevards,  and  add  greatly  to  the 
attractiveness  of  the  city. 

Antwerp  has  been  one  of  the  head-centres  in 
art  for  several  hundred  years.  Its  picture  galle- 
ries, and  its  churches  and  cathedrals,  are  thronged 
with  admiring  visitors.  One  of  the  first  objects  of 
my  visit  was  the  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame,  which 
dates  back  to  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury. One  of  its  towers  rises  403  feet,  while  the 
other  has  never  been  completed.  Not  attractive 
in  its  exterior,  it  is  full  of  beauty  within,  for  it  is 
illumined  and  glorified  with  paintings  from  the 
hands  of  the  old  masters,  which  will  endure  for 
centuries.  A  painting,  Rubens's  "  Immaculate 
Conception,"  is  at  the  top  of  the  cathedral  dome. 
There  are  his  "Elevation  of  the  Cross"  and  the 
"  Descent  from  the  Cross."  The  latter  is  consid- 
ered by  artists  one  of  his  master-pieces.     Others, 


ANTWERP  CATHEDRAL.  295 

like  "  In  the  Garden  of  Olives,"  attract  great  at- 
tention and  admiration  from  those  qualified  to 
judge  of  works  of  art. 

On  the  sides  of  the  cathedral  were  fig^ures  in 
wood,  nearly  life  size,  of  twenty-four  of  the  prin- 
cipal angels  ;  and  between  them,  at  regular  inter- 
vals, were  the  confessionals, — sort  of  boxed-up 
chairs, — with  the  name  of  the  officiating  priest 
upon  each.  This  is  common  in  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic cathedrals  upon  the  continent. 

The  museum  is  an  important  one,  in  which  is  a 
fine  picture  gallery  of  over  700  paintings  from 
noted  artists.  In  the  department  of  curiosities 
are  printing-presses  of  155 5-1 600.  The  walls  are 
covered  with  leather  paper,  upon  which  are  elab- 
orate figures.  There  are  also  a  great  number  of 
relics  of  untold  value. 

Peter  Paul  Rubens,  the  distinguished  Flemist 
painter,  who  was  born  at  Siegen,  Germany,  June 
29.  1577.  was  a  resident  of  Antwerp  the  last  years 
of  his  life,  and  died  there  May  30,  1640.  His 
house  still  exists,  is  pointed  out  to  visitors,  and 
excites  much  attention. 

Leaving  the  place  so  full  of  history,  the  swift 
cars  soon  took  me  to  Brussels,  the  captivating 
capital  of  Belgium,  a  city  of  400,000  people.  It 
has  its  parks,  and  its  boulevard  on  the  site  of  the 
old  fortifications  encircles  the  place.  Three  or  four 
rows  of  trees  extend  through  it,  and  between 
them  are  walks  and  streets  for  driving,  and  also 


296  HOTEL  DE    VILLE. 

tracks  for  the  tramway  cars.  The  mansions  of 
the  wealthy  are  here.  Brussels  has  magnificent 
and  stately  buildings,  and  is  well  termed  Paris 
in  miniature,  for  it  is  truly  very  fascinating  with 
its  long,  wide,  straight,  clean,  and  well  paved 
streets.  The  Hotel  de  Ville  is  an  elegant  struct- 
ure, with  a  lofty  spire  370  feet  high.  The  city 
council  chamber  is  brilliant  with  its  walls  of  paint- 
ings. There  are  the  lottery  chambers,  with  the 
lottery  wheels  looking  like  immense  coffee-mills. 
These  are  turned,  and  by  chance  is  told  the  bond- 
holder who  shall  pay  in  full  for  redeeming  the 
debt  of  the  city.  Tapestry  is  exhibited  which  is 
400  years  old.  Visited  the  hall  where,  it  is  said  by 
some  and  denied  by  others,  the  Duchess  of  Rich- 
mond gave  a  ball  the  night  before  the  battle  of 
Waterloo,  and  which  has  been  immortalized  by 
Byron : 

"  There  was  a  sound  of  revelry  by  night, 
And  Belgium's  capital  had  gathered  then 
Her  beauty  and  her  chivalry,  and  bright 

The  lamps  shone  o'er  fair  women  and  brave  men." 

The  hall  surprised  me  by  its  smallness  and  lack 
of  elegance,  and  I  could  hardly  realize  that  just 
sixty-nine  years  before,  on  the  night  previous  to 
the  battle,  the  brilliant  assemblage  gathered  there 
of  "  fair  women  and  brave  men,"  and  how  the 
sounds  of  war  broke  in  upon  their  ears,  and  brave 
men,  with  blanched  faces,  spoke  the  parting  words 
and  took  tender  farewells  of  tearful  women,  and 
hurried  forward  to  the  terrible  field  of  Waterloo. 


FAMOUS  PLACES  IN  BRUSSELS.  297 

The  Bourse  is  worthy  of  this  substantial  city. 
From  the  gallery,  as  one  looked  down  upon  the 
floor,  there  was  a  perfect  Babel  of  voices,  which 
arose  from  the  multitude  of  jostling,  excited  men 
below.  Very  interesting  was  my  visit  to  a  lace 
manufactory.  I  saw  the  pattern  of  a  bridal  veil  of 
a  princess,  daughter  of  one  of  the  royal  families 
in  Europe,  which  took  four  hundred  work  people 
three  months  to  make.  As  wages  are  low  there, 
it  then  only  cost  seven  thousand  dollars.  Collars 
such  as  ladies  usually  wear  are  sold  at  from  three 
to  seven  dollars  each.  These  are  all  manufac- 
tured by  hand;  and  it  was  instructive  to  watch 
the  trained  fingers  of  the  fair  young  workers. 

The  King's  Park  is  a  place  of  great  attractions, 
with  its  trees,  walks,  and  statues  of  noted  men. 

The  chief  museum  is  evidently  one  of  the  finest 
on  the  continent.  There  was  exhibited  the  skel- 
eton of  the  largest  whale  found  for  several  cen- 
turies. Its  ribs  seemed  like  the  sides  of  a  ship, 
and  the  mouth  would  admit  a  small  boat.  The 
picture  gallery  was  magnificent.  One  could  wan- 
der from  room  to  room  and  look  upon  the  rarest 
pictures  of  the  best  artists  of  the  past.  One  room 
was  filled  with  Rubens's  paintings  (1577- 1640). 
He  must  have  been  a  wonderfully  prolific  artist, 
as  his  reputed  pictures  are  in  many  celebrated 
galleries.  His  subjects  did  not  always  show  a 
great  refinement  of  taste  in  their  selection.  In 
one    a    priest    had     his    tongue    cut    out,    which 


298  THE   PALACE   OF  JUSTICE. 

was  thrown  to  a  dog.  It  was  a  horrible  thing. 
From  the  museum  was  a  good  view  of  the  city, 
with  its  houses  with  tile  roofs. 

The  Palace  of  Justice  is  a  magnificent  build- 
ing, on  a  high  elevation,  erected  at  a  cost  of 
about  ten  million  dollars.  Built  of  creamy,  light 
stone,  it  is  a  building  worthy  of  a  great  nation, 
and  too  extravagant  for  a  nationality  like  Belgium. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  ambitious  and  magnificent 
buildines  erected  in  modern  times.  There  are  in 
the  interior  twenty-seven  large  court-rooms,  eight 
open  courts,  and  two  hundred  and  forty-five  apart- 
ments. Four  hundred  feet  above  the  pavement 
is  the  gilded  cross  which  surmounts  the  building. 

One  is  amazed  at  the  exceeding  smallness  of 
the  soldiers,  and  of  the  people  generally  in  Bel- 
gium. The  tourist  is  surprised  at  the  amount 
of  recreation  and  out-of-door  life  seen  all  about 
him.  In  Brussels  the  sidewalks  are  wide,  with 
protecting  awnings.  Front  of  the  cafes  were 
chairs  and  tables  filled  with  people  day  and  even- 
ing, talking,  laughing,  and  drinking  their  beer. 
Whole  families  were  there, — men  with  their  sis- 
ters and  sweethearts,  men  with  their  wives  and 
children,  grouped  about  a  table.  They  sipped 
their  beer  as  we  would  tea,  and  did  not  swallow 
two  or  three  glasses  as  an  American  would,  and 
go  away  to  other  business.  Throughout  Germany 
the  people  enjoy  this  public  domestic  life,  and  it 
is    inexpensive.     The    cigars    which   the  German 


HABITS  OF   THE  PEOPLE.  299 

smokes  and  the  beer  which  he  drinks  are  not 
costly.  Then  there  are  the  open-air  concerts, 
where  trained  and  accomphshed  bands  discourse 
sweet  music  to  them.  The  latter  has  an  elevating- 
and  refinine  influence.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the 
Germans  are  musicians  and  lovers  of  melody,  for 
there  is  probably  not  a  city  in  Germany,  or  hardly 
a  beer  garden,  where  the  people  are  not  enter- 
tained by  music  publicly  given,  either  free  or  at 
an  expense  of  a  few  pence.  There  they  sit  in  the 
cool  of  the  evening  beneath  the  trees,  with  the 
space  lit  up  by  many  lamps,  or  walk  about  and 
chat  with  friends,  and  seem  contented  and  happy. 
Dull  care  is  driven  away,  and  recreation  is  the 
duty  of  the  hour.  These  are  simple  pleasures, 
comparatively  harmless,  but  would  be  hardly  satis- 
fying to  persons  of  ambitious  tendencies,  like  the 
active,  nervous  Americans.  All  the  peasantry, 
old  and  young,  wear  wooden  shoes,  which  go 
clamp,  clamp,  clam-p  as  they  wander  over  the 
stony  street.  Maps  of  the  country  are  painted 
upon  the  walls  of  the  railway  stations,  giving 
towns  and  distances,  which  greatly  aid  the  travel- 
ler. This  custom  is  being  adopted  in  American 
stations. 

Brussels  has  more  artificial  beauties  and  more 
costly  edifices  than  Edinburgh,  but  its  situation 
and  natural  beauty  are  not  so  great;  and  its  people 
— they  are  so  different  from  the  Scotch  ! 

Waterloo,  eight  miles  away,  was  visited.     The 


300 


THE  BATTLE-FIELD   OF  WATERLOO. 


battle-field  is  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  station, 
to  which  tourists  are  carried  by  carriages  in  wait- 
ing.    A  huge  mound,  circular  in  form,  has  been 

raised  upon  the  field. 
It  is  200  feet  high, 
2,100  feet  in  circum- 
ference, and  is  sur- 
mounted with  a  pil- 
lar and  the  Belgian 
lion.  By  a  singular 
coincidence,  I  visited 
the  place  on  the  six- 
ty-ninth anniversary 
of  the  fight.      Quite 

Mound  at  Waterloo.  a  number  of  tOUristS 

were  there.  On  portions  of  the  field  the  bright 
red-clover  was  in  full  bloom,  almost  as  red  as  the 
blood  of  the  brave  men  which  drenched  the  land. 
I  have  never  seen  this  variety  of  clover  in  Amer- 
ica. Other  portions  of  the  field  were  under  the 
plow,  or  luxuriant  with  vegetables,  growing  grain, 
or  the  waving  grass.  Different  portions  of  the 
ground  were  visited.  A  fine  view  is  had  from  the 
summit  of  the  mound,  where  the  movements  of 
the  armies  were  fully  and  intelligently  explained 
by  the  guide.  The  place  was  shown  where,  in 
the  decisive  hour,  while  victory  was  trembling  in 
the  balance,  Ney,  the  "bravest  of  the  brave,"  at 
the  head  of  the  "Old  Guard,"  tried  to  stem  the 
tide  of  battle,  and  struck  the  last  blow  for  Napo- 


AIX  LA    CHAPELLE.  3OI 

leon  and  the  empire.  But  it  was  not  in  human 
power  to  withstand  the  terrible  battle-tempest ; 
and  this  favorite  portion  of  the  army,  which  never 
reeled  in  the  shock  of  battle  before,  was  decimated. 
It  wavered,  it  broke,  it  was  borne  back,  and  its 
bleeding,  suffering  columns  sullenly  yielded  the 
field.  Then  the  fearful  cry  swept  along  the  quiv- 
ering lines  of  the  French,  "The  guard  recoils!  The 
guard  recoils !  " — and  the  field  was  lost.  Napoleon 
was  a  fugitive,  and  the  empire  was  of  the  past ! 

Returned  to  Brussels,  and  had  quarters  at  the 
Grand  Hotel,  which  were  excellent.  Had  been 
travelling  with  an  Englishman,  and  we  fell  in  with 
a  very  agreeable,  intelligent  family  from  New- 
castle-on-Tyne,  by  the  name  of  Bell,  who,  having 
spent  the  winter  in  Italy,  were  returning  to  Eng- 
land, and  our  party  did  Brussels  in  company. 
Here  we  divided;  —  my  English  friend  left  for 
Paris,  the  rest  of  the  party  for  England,  while 
I  went  direct  to  Aix  la  Chapelle. 

I  was  now  in  Germany,  Polite  officials  exam- 
ined our  goods  as  we  passed  the  frontier  from 
one  kingdom  into  another.  The  country  through 
which  we  passed  was  a  fine  agricultural  region, 
highly  cultivated,  and  adorned  with  trees.  While 
asking  a  Swiss  gentleman  a  political  question  in 
relation  to  Bismarck,  I  noticed  a  smile  pass  over 
the  face  of  a  German  gentleman  who  sat  opposite. 
The  Swiss  gave  an  evasive  answer ;  and  when  the 
German  left  the  car  he  gave  an  explanation,  say- 


302  CURIOUS  SIGHTS  AND   CUSTOMS. 

ing  Germany  was  not  England  or  the  United 
States,  and  were  it  proven  that  one  had  uttered 
a  word  reflecting  sharply  upon  King  William 
or  Bismarck,  he  would  be  liable  to  be  sent  to 
prison  for  three  years.  Not  a  good  place  for  lib- 
erty-of-speech-loving  Americans!  This  is  a  very 
ancient  city,  and  has  a  population  of  85,000. 
It  is  pleasantly  situated,  and  surrounded  by 
sloping  hills.  Charlemagne  gave  it  its  v/orld- 
wide  celebrity,  and  made  it  a  city  of  the  first  mag- 
nitude. It  was  his  favorite  place  of  residence,  and 
there  he  died  January  28,  814.  Up  to  153 1  thirty- 
seven  German  emperors  had  been  crowned  here. 

The  hotels  are  attractive,  each  having  connected 
with  it  a  garden  filled  with  trees,  statuary,  and 
flowing  fountains,  which,  when  lit  up  in  the  even- 
ing, make  it  a  sort  of  fairy  land.  Curious  sights 
greet  one  on  every  hand.  Dogs  are  always  muz- 
zled, as  dogs  always  should  be,  and  are  harnessed 
beneath  two-wheeled  carts,  which  they  carry 
along,  while  the  owner  guides  it  as  he  travels  be- 
hind. Express  bundles,  milk,  bread,  and  other 
articles  are  thus  transported  over  the  city.  Dogs 
thus  used  are  very  patient,  work  hard,  and  will 
haul  quite  a  load.  I  visited  the  ancient  cathedral, 
a  portion  of  which  was  built  by  Charlemagne  more 
than  1,000  years  ago,  or  about  799.  Numerous 
additions  have  been  made  since.  Its  exterior  is 
sixteen-sided,  and  it  is  a  very  ancient  and  rather 
dilapidated  looking  building,  showing  plainly  the 


TOMB    OF  CHARLEMAGNE.  303 

ravages  of  time.  In  the  interior  is  a  stone  marked 
"  Carolo  Magno^'  and  marks  the  tomb  of  Charle- 
magne, In  the  treasury  are  sacred  rehcs,  pre- 
sented to  the  great  emperor,  and  which  are  shown 
to  the  people  once  in  seven  years.  There  were 
religious  services  in  the  cathedral  during  a  part  of 
my  visit.  The  music  was  by  a  choir  of  male 
voices.  The  strains  were  so  loud  and  sweet,  it 
seemed  almost  as  though  they  would  touch  re- 
sponsively  the  sleeping  emperor  Charlemagne. 
The  city  is  not  beautiful,  except  the  boulevards, 
where  all  kinds  of  early  fruits  were  for  sale,  and 
where  the  people  congregated  so  largely  and  en- 
joyed themselves  so  much  in  the  evenings. 

A  two  hours  ride  through  a  section  of  country 
not  romantic,  but  pleasing,  brought  me  to  the  city 
of  Cologne,  the  largest  place  in  the  Rhenish 
province  of  Prussia.  In  A.  D.  51,  Agrippina,  the 
mother  of  Nero^  founded  here  a  colony  of  Roman 
veterans,  which  was  called  Colonia  Agrippinensis. 
Remains  still  exist  of  the  walls  surrounding  this 
early  settlement.  It  is  now  one  of  the  important 
commercial  cities  of  Germany,  as  its  steamboat 
and  railway  facilities  are  excellent.  It  is  situated 
130  feet  above  sea  level,  on  the  bank  of  the  river, 
with  a  military  garrison  of  7,000  men,  and  a  pop- 
ulation of  145,000  people,  of  whom  120,000  are 
Catholics.  I  registered  at  Hotel  de  Hollande,  on 
the  bank  of  the  beautiful  Rhine.  Bright  anticipa- 
tions were  with  me  of  a  passage  up  the  Rhine. 


304  CATHEDRAL   AT  COLOGNE. 

The  enchanting  river  was  now  flowing  serenely 
in  front,  and  almost  beneath  my  hotel  windows. 
Upon  the  opposite  side,  and  reached  by  an  iron 
bridge  and  a  bridge  of  boats,  was  the  town  of 
Deutz,  with  its  15,000  inhabitants.  Numberless 
boats  were  upon  the  river,  with  banners  flying, 
with  bands  discoursing  sweet  music,  and  filled  with 
throngs  of  excursionists  :  the  sight  of  these  could 
not  but  cause  one  to  desire  to  be  upon  its  sil- 
very waters,  to  gaze  upon  the  vine-clad  hills 
which  skirt  its  shores,  and  look  upon  the  frown- 
ing fortresses  and  ancient  castles  and  ruins 
which  bristle  along  its  sides,  and  with  which  are 
connected  legends,  the  themes  of  song  and  story. 
For  centuries  the  beauties  of  the  river  have  been 
the  topic  of  writers  and  poets,  and  my  experi- 
ence subsequently  told  me  that  they  had  not 
been   over-estimated. 

My  first  business  was  to  inspect  the  city  of  Co- 
logne. The  streets  are  narrow,  gloomy,  and  unat- 
tractive, and  not  properly  cared  for.  I  repaired 
to  its  cathedral,  which  excites  the  admiration  of 
all  beholders  and  is  the  pride  of  every  citizen.  It 
is  considered  the  most  magnificent  Gothic  edifice 
in  the  world,  and  stands  on  an  elevation  sixty  feet 
above  the  river.  The  foundation  was  laid  August 
14,  1248,  and  its  completion  was  celebrated  Octo- 
ber 15,  1880.  Its  length  is  444  feet,  and  is  201 
feet  wide.  The  length  of  the  transepts  is  282 
feet.     The  walls  are  150  feet  high,  and  the  height 


THE   CITY  OF  COLOGNE.  305 

of  the  roof  201  feet.  The  central  tower  is  357 
feet  high.  The  towers  are  512  feet  in  height,  and 
are  the  loftiest  in  Europe.  The  outside  of  the 
building  is  decorated  with  a  multitude  of  turrets 
and  figures.  The  interior,  with  its  rich,  stained 
windows  and  fine  architecture,  is  very  impressive. 
Some  of  these  windows  date  back  500  years. 

"  I  lift  mine  eyes,  and  all  the  windows  blaze 
\Vith  forms  of  saints  and  holy  men  who  died, 
Here  martyred,  and  hereafter  glorified." 

The  different  chapels  and  the  treasury  are  full 
of  relics  and  treasures,  which  are  held  in  highest 
value — beyond  price.  I  went  through  all  portions, 
and  ascended  to  the  highest  accessible  pinnacle, 
which  commanded  a  magnificent  view  of  the  city, 
the  country  beyond,  and  the  curving  Rhine. 

There  are  other  churches,  ancient  and  curious. 
St,  Martin  was  consecrated  in  1172.  St.  Ursula 
is  on  the  site  of  a  church  of  the  fifth  century,  and 
the  bones  of  11,000  virgins  are  said  to  repose 
here.     St.  George  was  consecrated  in  1067. 

The  long  iron  bridge  for  travellers  and  trains, 
built  across  the  Rhine,  is  a  fine  affair,  and  steam- 
boats can  pass  beneath  it.  A  bridge  of  boats  also 
spans  the  river,  which  opens  for  passing  ships. 
Cologne  is  well  worth  a  careful  inspection,  for 
it  is  an  interesting  city  with  a  great  many  curiosi- 
ties and  noted  places. 

Left  Cologne  for  Bonn,  by  rail,  and  on  the  way 
had   an    exciting   railway    race.     Two    passenger 


306  A  RAILWAY  RACE. 

trains  whirled  away  from  the  city  on  parallel  lines. 
There  seems  to  be  an  inherent  propensity  in 
the  human  heart  to  have  a  race,  whether  by 
horses,  by  steamboat,  or  by  train :  so  it  was  here. 
Each  train  increased  its  speed  :  the  passengers 
on  either  train  waved  their  handkerchiefs  and 
beckoned  for  those  in  the  rear  to  come  along. 
The  excitement  on  both  trains  increased,  and  we 
were  whirled  along  at  a  rapid  rate,  when  suddenly 
our  neighbors  dashed  away  on  a  sharp  turn  to 
the  left,  and  were  soon  out  of  sight.  It  was  an 
exciting,  enjoyable  race,  and  we  beat  the  other 
train  ! 

Only  a  few  hours  were  spent  in  Bonn,  which 
is  delightfully  situated  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Rhine,  with  3,600  people.  It  is  one  of  the  most 
important  university  towns.  I  went  through  the 
market,  which  is  in  a  large  open  square  of  the  city. 
It  was  very  amusing.  All  kinds  of  produce  were 
for  sale  by  the  peasant  women,  and  there  were 
hundreds  of  them,  while  the  utmost  good  feel- 
ing prevailed  among  them.  The  Munster  is  an 
imposing  church.  In  the  city  is  a  bronze  statue 
of  Beethoven,  who  was  born  1770,  and  died  1827. 
In  the  town  are  many  English  residents,  and 
pleasant  villas  line  the  bank  of  the  Rhine,  and 
beautiful  promenades,  shaded  by  trees,  make  the 
city  very  attractive. 

The  most  beautiful  scenery  of  the  Rhine  lies 
between  Bonn  and  Mayence,  or,  to  bring  it  within 


"V. 


ON     THE     RHINE. 


BEAUTIES  OF  THE  RHINE.  307 

closer  bounds,  Coblentz  and  Bingen,  the  distance 
between  the  latter  towns  being  about  forty  miles. 
A  beautiful  sunny  day,  with  a  clear  atmosphere 
and  blue  skies,  with  a  gay  steamer,  a  band  of 
music,  and  a  club  of  Bavarian  singers,  with  an  in- 
telligent and  interesting  company,  conspired  to 
make  the  trip  up  the  Rhine  most  enjoyable.  It 
was  at  midday  when  we  left  Bonn.  At  first  the 
scenery  was  tame,  but  soon  we  reached  the  high, 
rugged  banks  of  the  Siebengebirge  (seven  moun- 
tains), and  from  this  point  forward  the  scenery 
was  magnificent.     We  passed  Drachenfels : 

"  The  castled  crag  of  Drachenfels 

Frowns  o'er  the  wide  and  winding  Rhine, 
Whose  breast  of  waters  broadly  swells 
Between  the  banks  which  bear  the  vine." 

Onward  the  precipitous  banks  are  dotted  over 
with  castles.  Many  are  in  ruins:  some  have  been 
restored  to  their  former  condition,  and  are  beauti- 
ful or  romantic.  At  6  p.  m.  we  anchored  at  Cob- 
lentz. The  view  of  the  town  is  very  attractive 
from  the  river.  Hotels,  public  buildings,  and 
dwelling-houses  front  the  water,  and  presented  a 
gala  appearance.  The  town  is  situated  at  the 
junction  of  the  rivers  Moselle  and  Rhine;  is  the 
capital  of  the  Rhenish  province  of  Russia,  with  a 
population  of  3  i  ,000.  Five  thousand  troops  are 
garrisoned  here.  From  it  large  quantities  of  the 
Rhine  wines  are  exported  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 
A  bridge  of  boats,  which  makes  a  picturesque  ap- 


3o8 


FORTRESS  OF  EHRENBREITSTEIN. 


pearance,  connects  the  town  with  Thai  Ehrenbreit- 
stein,  a  pretty  town,  situated  between  commanding 

heights.  In  distinct 
view,  on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the 
river,  is  the  Gibraltar 
of  the  Rhine,  the 
famous  fortress  of 
Ehrenbreitstein.  It 
surmounts  a  precipitous  rock,  and  rises  387  feet 
above  the  river,  and  is  unapproachable  upon  three 
sides.  It  is  wonderfully  strong  in  appearance. 
At  the  south  is  Fort  Asterstein,  another  strong 
fortress. 

The  morning  succeeding  my  arrival  was  Sunday. 
The  bells  were  rung,  and  the  little  steamer  front- 
ing my  hotel  window  was  lazily  puffing  away  in 
the  river.  The  strong  old  fortress  looked  down 
frowningly  upon  the  water  beneath.  Front  of 
the  hotel  were  the  booths  of  the  women  fruit- 
venders,  who  were  trying  to  dispose  of  their  per- 
ishable commodities.  The  Rhine  hill-sides  were 
lined  with  terrace  above  terrace,  and  covered  with 
vineyards.  On  the  bank  is  the  Rhine  promenade, 
which  is  most  beautiful,  and  was  visited  by  pedes- 
trians. In  one  part  of  the  city  a  body  of  Prussian 
troops  were  drilling,  and  one  could  not  but  admire 
the  precision  of  their  action  and  the  ease  with 
which  they  went  through  their  difficult  and  com- 
plicated movem.ents. 


GERMAN  BEDS.  309 

Often  have  German  beds  been  pronounced 
good,  but  it  was  not  my  fortune  to  find  such  a 
one.  They  are  anything  but  agreeable.  They 
are  narrow,  with  their  coverHds,  and  a  huge  bag 
of  feathers  (a  foot  and  a  half  in  thickness  by  two 
and  a  half  in  width,  and  three  feet  in  length) 
thrown  over  the  top  to  keep  one  warm.  The  bag 
was  "too  short  at  both  ends." 

Again  taking  a  steamer,  we  passed  the  palace, 
beneath  the  railway  bridge,  and  in  sight  of  lovely 
promenades.  The  Castle  of  Stolzenfels  rises  310 
feet  above  the  river,  and  is  the  property  of  the 
emperor.  Mountains  now  lined  both  banks  of 
the  Rhine.  Before  reaching  St.  Goar,  we  passed 
the  most  imposing  ruin  upon  the  river.  It  was  the 
Castle  of  Rheinfels.  Farther  on  is  Lurlei,  433 
feet  above  the  water.  In  the  rock  dwelt  the 
nymph,  and  with  her  syren  attractions  enticed 
those  who  roamed  upon  the  waters  to  their  death 
in  the  rapids  at  the  foot  of  the  precipice.  Passing 
Oberwessel,  later  on,  were  seen  the  castle  and  pic- 
turesque ruins  of  Schonburg,  with  four  great  tow- 
ers. It  was  erected  about  the  twelfth  century, 
was  destroyed  by  the  French  in  1689,  and  was  the 
birthplace  of  Marshal  Schomberg,  who  fell  at  the 
memorable  Battle  of  the  Boyne,  in  Ireland,  under 
William  Prince  of  Orange.  Great  numbers  of 
castles  on  the  Rhine  have  the  same  history — de- 
stroyed by  the  French !  The  Germans  have  good 
memories,  and    in   the   late   Franco-German    war 


3IO  GOOD  MEMORIES  OF  THE   GERMANS. 

the  victor  demanded  and  received  of  the  French 
nation  so  much  territory  and  money  as  to  settle 
up  all  accounts  of  past  centuries  and  the  present 
one. 

There  is  Bacharach  lying  sweetly  fronting  the 
Rhine,  back  of  which  are  the  extensive  ruins  of 
the  once  strong  Castle  of  Stahleck,  which  the 
French  captured  eight  times  in  twenty  years,  and 
destroyed  in  1689.  The  old  castles  of  Falkenburg, 
and  the  most  beautiful  castle  of  Rheinstein,  are 
seen,  and  Ehrenfels  Tower,  built  in  12  10,  and  de- 
stroyed by  the  French  in  1689.  ^^  "^^  centre  of 
the  river  is  the  Mouse  Tower,  which  is  said  to 
derive  its  name  from  the  legend  of  Archbishop 
Hatto  of  Mayence.  In  a  time  of  distressing  fam- 
ine he  burned  some  starving  people  in  a  barn, 
comparing  them  to  mice.  A  curse  followed  him, 
or  rather  the  mice  did,  to  this  island,  and  devoured 
him  alive. 

At  length  we  halted  at  "sweet  Bingen  on  the 

Rhine,"  where  I  dis- 
^^  '^,  ^W©  e  mbarked.  Before 
^ji  reaching  this  place 
r^f"  was  the  grandest 
scenery  on  the  river 
— a  constantly  changing  view,  each  more  beautiful 
than  the  one  preceding  it.  From  the  steamer,  as 
it  follows  the  sharp,  graceful  curves  of  the  stream, 
one  can  plainly  see  the  castles  on  high  elevations, 
in  the  distance  and  near  at  hand,  while  pleasant 


BINGEN  ON  THE  RHINE.  3  I  I 

villas  and  villages  line  the  shores.  Bingen  is  a 
Hessian  town  of  6,500  people,  pleasant  for  situa- 
tion. It  is  celebrated  because  of  the  sweet,  pa- 
thetic poem  of  the  Hon.  Mrs.  C.  E.  Norton,  com- 
mencing— 

"A  soldier  of  the  legion  lay  dying  in  Algiers  : 
There  was  lack  of  woman's  nursing,  there  was  dearth  of  woman's  tears." 

He  speaks  of  his  "brothers  and  companions,"  of 
a  sister,  and  of  "another,  not  a  sister,"  whom  he 
would  meet  no  more  at  "Bingen,  sweet  Bingen 
on  the  Rhine."  The  vineyards  at  and  around  this 
place,  and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  are 
simply  wonderful.  For  miles  terraces  rise  above 
terraces,  from  the  water's  edge  to  the  topmost 
point  of  the  steeply  sloping  hill-side.  The  hills 
are  studded  with  terrace  walls,  which  are  built  to 
prevent  the  small  amount  of  soil  which  exists  from 
being  washed  into  the  river  by  the  heavy  rains. 
On  these  patches  of  earth  the  vines  are  planted, 
and  are  supported  by  small  sticks.  In  places  are 
great  windrows  of  shelvy  rocks,  dug  out  ot  the 
stony  sides,  not  used  in  the  construction  of  the 
terrace  walls.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  Rhine 
is  a  magnificent  monument,  erected  in  honor  of 
German  soldiers  who  died  in  the  war  of  1870-71. 
The  romance  of  the  Rhine  ceased  at  Bingen. 
The  remainder  of  the  route  to  Mayence,  which  oc- 
cupied two  hours  and  a  half,  was  through  a  coun- 
try of  great  luxuriance  and  fertility.  From  Bonn 
to  Mayence  occupied  thirteen  hours, — a  part  of 


312 


HEIDELBERG. 


two  days.  Possibly  the  natural  scenery  of  the 
Rhine  does  not  surpass  that  of  the  Highlands  on 
the  Hudson.  The  Rhine  has  castles  and  a  his- 
tory, which  the  Hudson  has  not.  It  never  can 
have  such  a  record,  but  the  centuries  may  bring 
it  a  more  glorious  one ;  for  the  triumphs  of 
peace  will  surpass  the  cruel,  bloody  triumphs  of 
war.  Mayence  is  a  strongly  fortified  city,  with 
8,000  soldiers  and  54,000  inhabitants. 

Leaving  Mayence,  a  ride  of  two  hours  and  a  half, 
through  a  fertile  and  level  country,  brought  me  to 
Heidelberg,  where  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting 
parties  from  Kansas  City,  and  Bishop  J.  F.  Hurst, 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  who  had  once 

been  a  student  in  Heidel- 
bere.  As  our  routes  for  the 
next  thirty-six  hours  were 
the  same,  we  travelled  in 
company.  At  Heidelberg 
the  bishop  was  our  pilot, 
and  took  us  immediately  to 
the  ruined  castle.  This  is  a 
city  of  some  25,000  inhabi- 
tants, and  for  beauty  of  nat- 
ural scenery,  of  location,  and 
for  historical  interest,  can 
hardly  be  excelled.  It  is  sit- 
uated on  the  Neckar,  which 
connects  with  the  Rhine  twelve  miles  below.  The 
castle  was  founded  by  Count  Palatine  Rudolph  I, 


THE  RUINED   CASTLE.  313 

in  the  last  decade  of  the  thirteenth  century.  It 
underwent  great  changes  through  the  succeed- 
ing centuries,  and  in  the  eighteenth  covered  a 
large  extent  of  territory.  Several  times  was  it 
nearly  destroyed  by  the  ravages  of  war,  and  then 
rebuilt.  It  was  at  length  a  prey  to  the  elements, 
being  struck  by  lightning  in  1764,  and  reduced  to 
its  present  ruined  condition.  It  is  pronounced 
the  most  remarkable  ruin  in  Germany.  The  ivy- 
clad  walls  are  of  great  thickness,  and  to  every 
point  are  attached  historical  associations.  It  is 
situated  on  the  Jellenblihl,  a  wooded  hill  300  feet 
above  the  Neckar,  which  flows  through  the  valley 
beneath.  The  defensive  walls  upon  three  sides 
are  surrounded  by  woods  ;  and  from  them  one 
can  look  to  the  deep  decline  beneath,  over  the 
branching,  leafy  tree-tops,  and  upon  the  side  fac- 
ing the  town,  can  view  the  town  itself,  the  hills 
upon  the  opposite  shore,  and  also  follow  the  grace- 
ful windings  of  the  Neckar  till  in  the  distance  it 
is  lost  in  the  widening  plains.  In  and  around  the 
castle  various  kinds  of  architecture  are  to  be  seen. 
There  are  allegorical  figures;  and  in  the  arches  of 
the  windows  are  medallions  of  famous  persons  of 
the  long  ago.  Statues  adorn  the  niches  in  the 
walls,  and  beautiful  carvings  everywhere  abound. 
We  were  led  through  the  gloomy  subterranean 
passages,  and  beheld  the  strength  and  repulsive- 
ness  of  its  old  dungeons.     Its  largeness  of  extent, 

its  massiveness,  its  height,  and  the  labor  bestowed 
14* 


314 


THE    UNIVERSITY. 


on  its  erection,  are  very  great.  From  the  brow  of 
a  high  hill  back  of  it  one  can  see,  far  beneath,  the 
castle,  the  city  with  its  house-roofs,  beer-gardens, 
churches,  university,  the  Neckar  as  it  winds  sin- 
uously for  miles  in  the  verdant  plains,  while  oppo- 
site was  a  village,  and  nearer  the  steep  hill-side 
covered  with  vineyards,  with  roads  looking  like 
deep  cuts  among  them  leading  to  the  tops. 
Farther  to  the  right  the  hills  were  finely  wooded, 
and  the  whole  hill-sides,  with  their  waving,  sway- 
ing branches  of  green,  in  the  breezes  of  that  sun- 
ny day,  were  beautiful. 

There  was  the  celebrated  great  tun,  which  held 
800  hogsheads  of  wine  ;  was  32  feet  long  and  26 

feet  high,  with  a  plat- 
form upon  its  top  large 
enough  to  dance  a  cotil- 
lon. 

The  famous  universi- 
ty, founded  by  Rupert  I 
in  1386,  has  more  than 
600  students.  The  lat- 
ter belong  to  different 
clubs  or  societies,  which  are  designated  by  the 
caps  of  differing  colors  which  the  members  wear. 
Members  of  different  societies  are  supposed  not 
to  love  each  other,  and  it  is  considered  the  part 
of  manliness  to  fight  duels.  One  sees  many  of 
the  students  in  the  streets  and  in  the  great  beer- 
halls  or  restaurants,  and  some  bear  marks  of  sav- 


STRASBURG.  3  I  5 

age  cuts  upon  their  faces.  One  in  particular  I 
recall,  where  the  broad  scar  extended  from  the 
crown  of  the  head  to  the  jaw. 

Leaving  Heidelberg,  we  went  direct  to  Stras- 
burg  (stopping  only  at  Baden-Baden),  passing 
through  a  highly  cultivated  country.  Men,  wom- 
en, young  girls,  and  boys  were  at  work  at  hay- 
ing in  the  fields,  mowing  with  peculiar  snaths  and 
scythes,  and  with  clumsy  forks  pitching  hay  upon 
their  rude  ox-  or  cow-wagons,  for  both  oxen  and 
cows  are  used  singly  or  doubly.  The  women 
work  as  regularly  in  the  fields  as  the  men.  The 
land  is  staked  off  into  narrow  strips,  is  highly  cul- 
tivated, and  yields  abundant  crops.  The  agricult- 
ural utensils  are  antiquated,  and  a  hundred  years 
behind  American  implements.  The  population  is 
so  dense  that  the  smallness  of  territory  allotted  to 
each  cultivator  prevents  the  use  of  mowing-ma- 
chines, and  the  improved  machinery  so  generally 
in  use  in  the  United  States. 

Baden-Baden  is  well  situated  among  lovely 
hills,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Black  Forest,  and  is 
one  of  the  Saratogas  of  Germany.  Formerly  it 
was  the  greatest  gambling  place  in  the  world,  but 
government  has  restricted  this  greatly  within  a 
few  years.  From  Baden-Baden  we  went  to  Stras- 
burg,  and  the  hotel  Ville  De  Paris  was  our  home. 
The  city  was  founded  by  the  Romans,  is  the  capi- 
tal of  Alsace  and  German  Lorraine,  and  was 
wrested  from  France  when  peace  was  concluded 


3l6  THE    CATHEDRAL. 

at  Frankfort,  May  lo,  187 1.  Hardly  a  trace  of 
the  havoc  made  by  the  conflict  is  visible.  We 
went,  of  course,  to  the  cathedral,  and  one  cannot 
fail  to  be  gready  impressed  with  this  remarkable 
structure,  which  was  commenced  in  1 179  upon  the 
site  of  an  earlier  edifice,  which  was  built  in  the 
sixth  century.  All  that  can  be  said  of  most  of 
the  famous  cathedrals  of  Europe  in  regard  to  mas- 
siveness  and  height,  harmony  of  proportion,  beauty 
of  columns,  delicate  carvings  and  tracery,  elegance 
of  stained  glass  windows,  and  statuary,  can  be  said 
of  this  temple.  The  tower  rises  to  the  dizzy 
height  of  465  feet.  Ascending  to  the  highest 
point  to  which  one  can  climb,  there  is  an  excellent 
view  of  the  city,  of  river  and  plain,  the  Black 
Forest,  and  mountain  ranges  in  the  distance. 

At  noon  a  great  many  crowded  into  the  cathe- 
dral to  see  that  wonderful  piece  of  mechanism, 
the  clock,  which  was  constructed  between  1838- 
1842  by  a  clock-maker  named  Schwilgue.  The 
twelve  apostles  move  around  a  figure  of  the 
Saviour,  who  raises  his  hand  to  bless  them.  A 
cock  is  perched  on  the  highest  point  of  one  of  the 
towers,  who  flaps  his  wings  and  crows  three 
times,  which  can  be  heard  in  distant  parts  of  the 
building.  Allegorical  figures  adorn  the  exterior 
of  the  clock,  with  many  other  curious  points  in  its 
mechanism  which  might  be  mentioned. 

St.  Thomas's  church,  Protestant,  is  another  of 
interest.       There    is    the    monument    erected    by 


FALLS     IN     THE     ALPS, 


GERMAN  LAUNDRIES.  317 

Louis  XV  to  Marshall  Saxe,  who  died  in  1750. 
In  this  church,  in  a  hermetically  sealed  glass  case, 
are  the  remains  of  the  Duke  of  Nassau,  who  was 
killed  in  battle.  In  another  case  are  the  remains 
of  his  daughter,  thirteen  years  of  age,  clad  in  her 
silks.  She  looks  as  though  the  slightest  exposure 
to  the  air,  or  the  least  disturbance,  would  reduce 
her  frame  to  dust.  The  once  plump  finger  has 
the  ring  of  gold  upon  it,  but  the  changing  hand  of 
time  has  made  sad  havoc  with  her  perishable, 
youthful  beauty. 

Anchored  in  the  river,  but  lashed  to  the  shore, 
are  great  boats,  arranged  for  wash-houses.  There 
are  furnaces  which  supply  hot  water,  and  the 
tables,  at  which  the  washer-women  work,  are  of 
plank.  After  going  through  the  cleansing  proc- 
ess, the  clothes  (not  the  women,  though  the  lat- 
ter looked  as  though  they  needed  it!)  are  put  into 
the  river  for  the  final  rinsing.  The  shore  was 
lined  with  these  establishments. 

Strasburg  is  ancient,  very  quaint,  very  sleepy, 
but  it  is  odd  and  interesting.  Here  we  parted 
from  our  amiable  friend  the  bishop,  and  in  com- 
pany with  our  friends  of  Kansas  City  went  to 
Basel.  On  the  route,  by  appointment,  we  were 
joined  by  two  very  intelligent  German  Methodists, 
who  had  lived  in  the  United  States.  They  came 
laden  with  provisions  and  the  early  ripened  fruits 
of  the  land.  It  was  the  sunniest  of  afternoons, 
and  we  travelled  through  a  beautiful  country,  with 


3i8 


THE    VALLEY  OF  THE  RHINE. 


the  Black  Forest  in  view  much  of  the  way.  Our 
German  acquaintances  were  famiHar  with  each 
locahty,  and  made  this  one  of  the  most  agreeable 
of  rides.  We  journeyed  through  the  rich  valley 
of  the  Rhine.  The  people,  unlike  American  farm- 
ers, live  in  villages,  and  in  the  day-time  go  out  to 
cultivate  the  land.  Stones  four  inches  square 
mark  the  bounds  of  the  patch  of  land  each  man 
cultivates.  The  country  was  beautiful,  and  acres 
upon  acres  of  vineyards  were  luxuriant  with  the 
growing  vines.  On  reaching  Basel  or  Bale,  we 
registered  at  Hotel  Schweizerhof.  We  were  now 
in  far-famed  Switzerland. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 


SWITZERLAND. 


J^HIS  country  is  said  to  be  named  after  Schwitz, 
i^  one  of  its  smallest  cantons.  It  is  small  in 
area,  and  is  a  land  of  waterfalls,  of  charming  lakes, 
of  attractive  valleys,  and  of  mountains,  many  of 
which  are  glacier  crowned.  All  these,  with  her 
mountain  passes,  afford  wonderful  attractions  to 
the  multitudes  of  visitors  who  continually  throng 
that  land. 

Bale  or  Basel  is  finely  located  on  the  Rhine, 
and  was  formerly  the  junction  of  three  nations, — 
Germany,  Switzerland,  and  France.  It  is  a  city  of 
about  66,000  people,  and  was  founded  in  the 
second  century.  Its  has  excellent  hotels,  beautiful 
public  parks,  and  fine  walks  and  drives  are  in  the 
place  and  its  environs.  Its  churches,  arsenal, 
town  hall,  museum,  and  public  library  are  worthy 
of  close  inspection.  At  this  place  my  western 
acquaintances  left  me,  and  I  started  for  Lucerne, 
which  was  reached  in  three  hours. 

Lucerne  has  16,000  people,  and  lies  at  the  head 
of  Lake  Lucerne,  which  is  the  most  beautiful  body 
of  water  in  Switzerland,  and  one  of  the  loveliest 
lakes  in  the  world.     On  fine  boulevards  fronting  it 


320 


LUCERNE. 


the  principal  hotels  are  built,  from  which,  and  the 
pleasant  promenades,  there  are  excellent  views  of 
the  water  and  the  surrounding  high  mountains. 
The  Rigi  mountain  is  upon  the  left,  while  on  the 
right  is  the  cloud-enveloped  Mt.  Pilatus.  The 
latter  receives  its  name  from  that  of  Pontius  Pilate, 
who  finished  his  wicked  life,  the  legend  says,  by 


plunging  into  the  waters  of  the  lake  upon  its  sum- 
mit. A  form  was  often  seen  to  rise  from  its 
depths  and  go  through  the  act  of  washing  its 
hands,  and  at  such  times  dark  clouds  gathered 
over  the  bosom  of  the  "Infernal  Lake,"  and 
storms  and  hurricanes  and  tempests  always  suc- 
ceeded. These  wonders  ceased  long  ago,  and 
travellers  who  visit  the  summit  of  the  mountain 
are  no  longer  troubled  as  in  ancient  days. 

The  most  noted  object  of  interest  is  the  famous 
Lion  of  Lucerne,  wrought  in  the  solid  rock,  on 
the  perpendicular  side  of  a  sand-stone  cliff.  In 
the  French  Revolution  Louis  XVI  and  his  family 
were  defended  by  a  body  of  Swiss  guards,  who 
died  in  the  defence  of  royalty  at  the  Tuileries, 
Paris,  August  lo,  1792.     This  magnificent  piece 


i 


ft     S 

■  K    I  ll    L  A  .-.  _ 


f^^'liyy 


THE   LIOiV  OF  LUCERNE. 


321 


of  art  is  in  honor  of  the  unfortunate  hireling  sol- 
diery.  It  is  285  feet  in  length,  18  feet  in  height, 
and  represents  a  lion  in  the  agonies  of  death,  with 
his  side  transfixed  by  a  spear,  while  under  one  of 
his  protecting  paws  ff^^^ 
is  the  lily-graced 
shield  of  the  Bour- 
bons. The  names 
of  the  slain  are  en- 
graved at  the  sides. 
The  Dane,  Thor- 
waldson,  was  the 
artist  who  designed 
it.     Surrounded    as 

it  is  by  plants   and  lion  of  lucekne. 

green,  clinging  ivy,  with  the  waters  of  a  mountain 
stream  falling  into  a  pool  which  reflects  the  lion, 
it  has  justly  become  very  celebrated. 

In  close  proximity  is  the  Glacier  Garden,  where 
there  are  sixteen  excavations  in  the  solid  rock. 
By  the  action  of  glaciers  ages  ago,  great  holes 
were  made  forty  feet  in  depth.  Massive  stones 
were  in  them,  weighing  several  tons,  and  those 
revolved  as  the  water  flowed  in  upon  them,  wear- 
ing themselves  smooth,  and  enlarging  the  cavity 
in  the  ledge. 

Taking  a  small  steamer,  I  went  the  length  of 
the  lake  to  Fliielen.  Bold  mountains  towered 
above  and  around  us.  On  their  precipitous  sides 
were  broad-roofed  cottages  and  fine  orchards  bask- 


322 


THE  RIGI-KULM. 


ing  in  the  sunlight.  Passing  Brunnen,  we  were 
in  the  locahty  of  the  hero,  or  myth,  Wilham  Tell. 
There  is  the  spot  from  which  he  leaped  from  the 
boat  of  the  tyrant  Gesler,  and  shot  him  while  he 
was  on  the  way  to  prison.  Farther  up  is  Tell's 
chapel.     Two  miles  from  Fluelen,  where  the  boat 


stopped,  was  Altdorf,  the  spot  where  Tell  was 
when  he  shot  the  apple  from  the  head  of  his  child. 
A  fountain  is  on  the  place  where  his  son  is  said  to 
have  stood. 

We  landed  at  Vitznau,  and  ascended  the  Rigi 
by  railroad.  We  passed  through  the  tunnel,  over 
the  deep  ravine,  and  climbed  the  high  mountain- 
side. The  sun  was  sinking,  lighting  up  moun- 
tains with  their  snowy  caps,  and  casting  darken- 
ing shadows  over  the  lake.  When  we  reached 
the  summit  he  sank  from  view,  but  his  parting 
beams  tinged  all  the  mountain-tops  with  a  dress 
of  golden  light. 


SUJSTJilSE   ON  THE   ALPS.  323 

We  reo-istered  at  the  Rigi-Kulm.  At  4  o'clock 
on  the  following  morning  the  guests  were  aroused 
by  the  oft-repeated  blasts  of  the  Alpine  horn  to 
see  the  sun  rise  upon  the  Alps,  They  did  not 
tarry  to  make  elaborate  toilets,  but  came  pouring 
forth  In  diverse  costumes,  and  some  had  thrown 
about  them  the  thick  woollen  blankets  of  the  ho- 
tel. Upon  the  m.ost  elevated  point  of  land  is  a 
platform.  Securing  a  position  upon  this,  with 
impatience  I  waited  for  the  sunrise.  The  Alps 
were  in  our  front  (a  range  of  125  miles  in  length), 
which  could  be  taken  in  at  one  glance  of  the  eye. 
The  whole  panorama,  which  could  be  distinctly 
seen,  was  300  miles  In  circumference.  A  few 
straggling  rays  of  light  preceded  the  sun-burst : 
then  the  king  came  in  his  glory.  The  east  was 
blazing  gold,  and  mountain  peaks,  ice-crowned, 
white  and  pure  as  crystal,  sparkled  and  glowed  in 
the  Intensity  of  their  light  and  brightness.  Dark- 
ness fled  from  the  valleys ;  and  hills,  lakes,  cities, 
villages,  woods,  and  clearings  were  all  in  view 
and  aglow  In  the  sunshine.  The  lakes  mirrored 
In  their  depths  the  sky ;  a  vast  panorama  of  hills 
and  valleys  was  lying  far  beneath  us,  and  seemed 
like  a  great  plain.  There  was  the  chapel  of  the 
patriot  Tell,  the  city  of  Lucerne  with  its  church 
spires,  the  scattered  houses  of  numerous  hamlets, 
the  wooded  mountain-sides,  with  the  cone-like 
tops  of  the  fir-trees  rising  one  above  another, 
while  in  the  great  beyond  were  "Alps  upon  Alps:" 


324 


HOMES  OF   THE  SWISS  MOUNTAINEERS. 


all  were  lightened  and  brightened  by  the  sunlight, 
and  revealed  the  rough,  ragged,  jutting  outlines  of 
the  mountains,  with  the  snow  and  glaciers  upon 
them.  All  these  together  made  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  scenes  man  was  ever  permitted  to  look 
upon.  Descending  from  the  Rigi,  I  took  steamer 
for  Lucerne,  and  from  Lucerne  for  Alpnaught.  In 
going  to  this  southern  arm  of  the  lake  there  are 
extensive  views  of  highly  cultivated  fields  and  or- 
chards in  a  lovely  valley,  while  higher  up  on  the 
rising  sides  of  the  Alps  are  the  eternal  snows. 
Summer  in  the  valley,  winter  on  the  mountains : 
summer-land,  winter-land — both  seen  in  the  same 
glance  of  the  eye.  The  warm  breezes  of  summer 
and  the  fierce,  cutting  frosts  of 
winter  are  there.  In  many  a  shel- 
tered nook  and 
deep  mountain 
gorge  can  be 
seen  the  farm 
and  home  of  the 
Swiss  mountain- 
eer. The  high 
mountains  are 
cultivated  and 
grazed  to  their 
very  summits. 
On  arriving  at  Alpnach  we  went  by  stage 
twenty-five  miles,  over  the  famous  Brunig  Pass,  to 
Brienz.     The  road  led  through  a  country  densely 


Swiss  Cottage  and  Mountains. 


THE  BRUNIG  PASS.  325 

populated,  with  the  homes  of  the  Alpine  climbers 
rising  above  one  another  clear  to  the  summit  of 
the  mountains.  The  latter  were  so  steep  and  the 
tops  so  far-reaching  into  the  sky  that  one  would 
think  almost  that  the  houses  would  tumble  down 
the  steep  decline.  The  hay  crop  was  being  gath- 
ered, and  as  many  as  six  or  seven  men,  women, 
and  boys,  would  be  busily  at  work  on  a  small  patch 
of  land,  gathering  it.  The  men  rolled  up  the  hay 
in  great  bundles,  and  carried  it  into  their  barns 
upon  their  backs.  Their  farming  implements  are 
rude,  and  their  mountains  are  so  steep  that  do- 
mestic animals  cannot  be  used,  so  all  the  work  is 
done  by  human  exertion.  The  women  work  out- 
doors, and  carry  heavy  loads  in  long  baskets 
strapped  upon  their  shoulders. 

Never  can  one  appreciate  fully  the  correct  rep- 
resentation of  things  as  they  actually  exist,  and 
the  beauty  of  Longfellow's  "Excelsior,"  till  the 
homes  of  the  Alpine  climbers,  far  up  the  heights, 
have  been  seen.  One  almost  looks  to  see  the 
ambitious  youth,  and  hear  the  echoing,  far-away, 
warning  voices  in  the  dim  twilight  of  the  mountain : 

"Beware  the  pine  tree's  withered  branch, 
Beware  the  awful  avalanche." 

"  This  was  the  peasant's  last  good  night : 
A  voice  replied,  far  up  the  height, 
Excelsior." 

A  well  constructed  road  leads  through  the 
woods  to  the  summit  of  Brunig  pass.  By  the  side 
of  our  diligence  came  the  people — boys,  girls,  and 


326  FALLS  OF  THE   GIESSBACH. 

women, — with  milk,  fruit,  and  wood  carvings  (for 
which  this  country  is  so  noted)  to  sell.  The 
scenery  was  fine,  and  from  the  summit  (3,648 
feet)  can  be  seen  Lake  Lungern,  Mt.  Pilatus,  the 
Wetterhorn,  and  other  peaks  of  the  Bernese 
Alps.  The  descent  to  Brienz  afforded  views  of 
great  scenic  beauty,  and  before  nightfall  we  reached 
that  town,  situated  at  the  base  of  the  Brienzar 
Grat.  Very  quaint  and  odd  is  its  long  street  of 
wooden  houses,  with  quantities  of  wood  carvings, 
which  are  gems  of  art.  On  the  opposite  side  of 
the  lake  are  the  Falls  of  the  Giessbach,  very  noted, 
which  are  illuminated  each  evening,  making  a 
brilliant  appearance.  I  Avent  by  steamer  across 
the  Lake  of  Brienz  to  Interlaken.  No  sooner  had 
this  place  been  reached  than  into  the  station  came 
dashing  a  train  of  excursionists,  with  bands  of 
martial  music.  The  carriages  were  two  stories  in 
height.  This  is  a  lovely  little  town,  and  lies  be- 
tween Lakes  Thun  and  Brienz.  Its  wooden 
houses  have  projecting  eves,  built  like  all  Swiss 
houses,  and  ornamented  with  wood  carvings. 

Grand,  massive,  beautiful  was  the  Jungfrau,  clad 
in  its  snowy  shroud  of  eternal  brightness,  as  it 
rises  to  the  height  of  13,611  feet.  The  Silber- 
horn  is  upon  its  right;  mountains  and  glaciers  are 
all  about  it.  In  the  immediate  vicinity,  on  these 
mountains  and  in  the  valleys,  are  glaciers  covering 
360  square  miles.  There  is  the  Great  Aletsch  gla- 
cier, whose  source  is  at  the  foot  of  the  Jungfrau, 


GREAT  ALETSCH  GLACIER.  327 

the  largest  of  Switzerland's  ice  streams,  as  It  is 
nearly  a  score  of  miles  in  length,  and  from  one  to 
four  miles  in  breadth.  It  is  surrounded  by  huge 
peaks  of  the  Oberland  Alps,  and  is  wonderful  for 
its  solitude  and  extent. 

The  Lake  of  Thun  is  eleven  miles  long  and 
two  broad,  where  a  steamer  was  taken  which 
crossed  that  lake.  There  was  another  steamer, 
covered  with  streaming  banners,  bearing  excur- 
sionists, who  were  solaced  by  sweetest  music. 
The  shores  of  the  lake  are  dotted  with  villages, 
above  which  rise  the  mountains  of  the  Oberland. 
Reached  Thun,  with  its  5, 1 30  people,  finely  situated 
on  the  River  Aare.  Lovely  views  of  the  land- 
scape were  obtained  in  different  parts  of  the  town. 

The  journey  was  con- 
tinued to  Berne,  which  was 
inspected.  Very  delightful 
are  some  of  its  promenades 
and  views  of  the  outlying 
country,  especially  that  of 
the  Bernese  Alps.  Its 
clock  tower  is  celebrated. 
It  is  curious  to  see  the  per- 
formances. A  cock  flaps 
his  wings  and  crows  three  night  in  mu  alps. 

minutes  before  the  hour,  then  about  an  old  gen- 
tleman bears  march  in  procession,  and  again  crows 
the  cock.  The  hour  is  struck  on  the  bell  by  a 
fool,  while  the  old  gentleman  previously  mentioned 


328  FEDERAL    COUNCTL   HALL. 

turns  the  hour-glass  and  checks  off  the  strokes. 
A  nodding  approval  is  made  by  a  bear,  and  the 
crowing  of  the  cock  closes  the  exercises.  Beauti- 
ful is  the  Federal  Council  Hall,  called  the  Bundes 
Rathaus,  where  assembles  the  Swiss  Diet. 

Lausanne  was  the  next  city  of  prominence.  I 
registered  at  Hotel  Gibbon,  in  the  garden  of 
which  the  historian  Gibbon  completed  his  History 
of  Rome."  On  the  day  succeeding  my  arrival,  in 
this  same  garden,  a  Swiss  peasant  was  mowing  the 
grass.  He  used  a  straight  snath,  with  a  scythe 
the  blade  of  which  was  thin,  four  inches  wide  and 
two  feet  and  three  inches  long.  It  was  market 
day,  and  it  was  a  strange,  interesting  sight  to  visit 
the  markets,  which  are  in  many  of  the  streets. 
The  sidewalks  were  covered,  and  the  streets  half 
filled  with  the  peasants  and  their  produce  which 
they  had  brought  from  their  mountain  homes. 
There  were  baskets  of  rabbits,  old  and  young, 
very  tame,  which  the  women  would  lift  up  by 
their  ears  to  show  customers,  baskets  of  chickens, 
all  kinds  of  fruits,  and  in  another  section  were 
booths  where  various  kinds  of  wearing  apparel 
and  dry  goods  were  disposed  of.  There  were 
loads  of  wood,  and  stalls  where,  over  a  brisk  fire, 
eatables  were  cooked.  Serving  maids  with  their 
baskets  were  buying  produce  for  their  employers' 
households. 

The  cathedral  is  of  much  interest.  From  the 
Terrace  there  is  an  excellent  view  of  the  Savoy 


s 


LAKE   OF  GENEVA.  329 

Alps.  From  Lausanne  I  took  steamer  at  Ouchy 
to  cross  the  Lake  of  Geneva,  or  Lac  Leman,  to 
the  city  of  Geneva.  It  is  large  in  extent,  with  blue 
waters,  and  has  the  quietness,  peace,  and  loveli- 
ness in  its  surroundings  of  Lake  Windermere. 

"  Once  I  loved 
Torn  ocean's  roar  ;  but  thy  soft  murmuring 
Sounds,  sweet  as  of  a  sister's  voice,  reproved 
That  I  with  stern  delights  should  e'er  have  been  so  moved." 

The  boat  touched  at  the  towns  of  Morgas,  Rolle, 
Nyon,  Coppet,  and  Versoix.  Before  reaching 
Nyon,  the  Chateau  of  Prangins  could  be  seen, 
which  was  occupied  by  Joseph  Bonaparte.  At 
Coppet  there  lived  many  years,  and  is  buried,  that 
wonderful  woman,  Madame  de  Stael.  The  sloping 
hills  by  which  the  lake  is  surrounded  are  covered 
with  vineyards,  orchards,  and  pleasant  villages, 
and  the  shores  lined  with  beautiful  villas.  Mont 
Blanc,  grand,  massive,  mighty,  covered  with  its 
thick,  pure  mantle  of  whiteness,  was  visible  much 
of  the  way. 

"  On  those  eternal  peaks  there  winter  reigns, 
And  cold  and  frosts  their  icy  splendor  shed. 

********* 

A  pyramid  of  tiny  tongues  of  flame 

Darted  from  out  the  rifts  of  dazzling  white." 

The  city  of  Geneva  was  reached.  It  is  populous 
and  rich,  with  a  population  of  49,000.  It  is  divided 
by  the  river  Rhone  into  two  parts.  Old  fortifica- 
tions in  one  section  are  converted  into  a  beautiful 
promenade. 

IS 


330  GENEVA. 

Geneva  is  an  attractive  city.  Its  monuments, 
buildings,  broad  quays,  elegant  bridges,  and  shops 
of  trade  give  it  an  imposing  appearance.  All 
portions  of  the  city  were  visited.     It  is  a  town  of 


history.  Rousseau  was  born  here  in  17 12.  John 
Calvin,  whose  intense  thought  and  religious  zeal 
has  had  such  an  influence  in  the  theological  world 
for  centuries,  resided  here  for  about  thirty  years  ; 
and  it  was  my  pleasure  to  see  his  home,  and 
occupy  his  chair  in  the  cathedral  of  St.  Pierre. 

The  Swiss  are  a  quiet,  contented,  sturdy  race. 
As  a  people,  they  are  educated  in  the  school  of 
poverty,  and  endure  patiently  the  hardness  of 
their  lot.  Their  wants  are  few,  and  they  appear 
happy,  and  satisfied  with  the  life  they  lead.  Their 
apparel  is  of  the  plainest  kind.  They  are  reason- 
ably intelligent,  and,  as  a  class,  are,  with  the 
exception  of  hotel-keepers,  reasonably  honest. 
They  love  Switzerland  with  passionate  and  patri- 
otic devotion.  Their  country  is  a  stronghold  of 
defence  against  a  foreign  enemy,  and  a  small  force 
could  hurl  back  a  numerous  and  obstinate  foreign 
foe.     The  rulers  of  this  little  republic  have  taken 


IN     THE     ALPS. 


SWISS  PEOPLE. 


331 


measures  to  organize  a  reserve  force  of  200,000 
men,  to  be  largely  composed  of  men  from  the 
mountains.  These  Alpine 
mountaineers  cannot  be 
surpassed  in  strength,  en- 
durance, and  courage. 
When  brought  under  strict 
military  discipline  they  will 
be  superb  soldiers.  In  war 
in  their  own  loved  country 
they  would  prove  more 
valiant,  man  for  man,  than 
the  soldiers  any  enemy 
could  call  together.  The 
country  is  safe  when  under 
the  protection  of  her  val- 
iant sons,  unless  an  over- 
whelminor  force  is  brought 
against  her.  But  may  peace 
be  within  her  borders,  beau- 
ty always  linger  on  her 
mountains  and  in  her  val- 
leys, and  joy  and  plenty  be 
the  sweet,  rich  heritao-e  of 
the  Swiss  people. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 


FRANCE. 


kN  entering  the  railway  carriage  at  Geneva  for 
Paris,  it  was  my  pleasure  to  meet  as  travelling 
companions  a  clansman  from  Illinois,  with  his  wife 
and  daughter.  We  journeyed  to  Paris  together, 
and  quartered  at  the  same  hotel.  In  the  dawning 
of  the  morning  we  were  whirled  into  gay,  beautiful 
Paris,  the  delight  and  pride  of  France,  and  the  joy 
of  the  world.  And  how  shall  it  be  described  ? 
Years  might  be  spent  in  it,  and  much  then  remain 
to  be  seen.  It  covers  an  area  of  over  thirty  square 
miles,  has  over  five  hundred  miles  of  streets,  and 
a  population  of  about  two  millions.  Almost  every 
point  in  it  has  some  noted  gallery,  church,  or 
public  building. 

The  men  of  Paris  are  much  smaller  and  less 
robust  than  those  of  London.  The  women  are 
bright,  pretty,  nicely  dressed,  and  appear  more 
happy  and  cheerful  than  English  women.  While 
in  the  city  I  was  pleasantly  received  by  Gen. 
George  Walker,  a  native  of  Peterborough,  N.  H., 
and   consul-general   at    Paris,  whom   I   had    met 


m^Mff^ 


i  #  i^i 


N  < )  T  R  E     1)  A  M  E  , 


NOTRE  DAME.  333 

before.  A  pleasant  evening  was  passed  at  No.  44 
Rue  du  Clichy,  with  Ex-Gov.  P.  C.  Cheney  and 
family,  of  New  Hampshire. 

The    oldest   church   in    Paris   is   Notre    Dame. 

"  With  imposing  grandeur  rises 
This  cathedral,  great  and  fair. 
Every  arch  carved  out  in  beauty, 
Every  niche  adorned  with  care." 

It  was  founded  in  1163.  The  front  part,  dating 
from  the  thirteenth  century,  is  considered  the 
finest  portion.  In  1793  the  edifice  was  decreed 
to  be  destroyed,  but  it  was  finally  saved.  It  was 
converted  into  a  "  temple  of  reason,"  and  the 
statue  of  Liberty  replaced  that  of  the  Virgin. 
The  "torch  of  truth"  burned  in  the  choir,  over 
which  rose  the  "temple  of  philosophy,"  adorned 
with  statues  of  noted  men.  It  was  closed  May  12, 
1794,  but  was  reopened  as  a  place  of  worship  by 
Napoleon  in  1802.  There  is  shown  the  place 
where  Napoleon  and  Josephine  stood  when  they 
were  married  by  Pope  Pius  VII,  and  the  spot 
where  Napoleon  placed  the  crowns  upon  his  own 
head  and  that  of  Josephine.  There  is  the  bap- 
tismal font  where  Napoleon  III  had  the  prince 
imperial  baptized.  The  church  was  desecrated 
by  Communists  in  1871,  and  set  on  fire,  but  it 
was  saved  after  sustaining  slight  damage. 

The  Madeline  was  visited  in  the  afternoon. 
It  is  a  church  of  much  elegance  ;  was  founded  in 
1764,    commenced   building    in    1777,    and,  after 


334  PLACE  DE   LA    CONCORDE. 

several  changes  and  much  delay,  was  finished  in 
1842,  having  cost  $2,500,000.  It  stands  in  an 
open  place,  near  the  western  termination  of  the 
great  Boulevards.  It  is  approached  by  a  flight 
of  twenty-eight  steps.  It  is  354  feet  long,  141 
wide,  and  100  in  height.  It  is  surrounded  by 
Corinthian  pillars  over  fifty  feet  high.  Elegant 
and  colossal  statues  ornament  its  exterior;  and  its 
interior,  from  the  marble  pavement  and  beautiful 
ceiling  to  the  high  altar,  has  all  the  beauty,  ele- 
gance, and  richness  which  art,  wealth,  and  skill 
can  give.  There  are  no  windows  upon  the  sides, 
the  church  being  Hghted  from  the  top.  Its  high 
and  massive  doors,  adorned  with  illustrations  of 
the  ten  commandments,  were  seven  years  in 
building,  and  are  marvels  of  beauty. 

The  Place  de  la  Concorde  is  the  finest  Place  in 
the  city,  and,  possibly,  in  the  world.  It  is  a  gem 
of  beauty  in  itself,  and  is  surrounded  by  other 
gems.  The  river  Seine,  the  Champs-Elysees,  the 
gardens  of  the  Tuileries,  and  the  Rue  de  Rivoli 
are  about  it.  In  the  evening  a  thousand  blazing 
lights  among  fountains,  trees,  statues,  and  through 
the  Champs-Elysees  to  the  Triumphal  Arch,  make 
the  scene  beautiful  as  fairy  land.  On  this  spot, 
now  so  fair,  terrible  scenes  have  been  enacted ; — 
1200  persons  were  killed  in  a  panic  May  30,  1770; 
here  Louis  XVI,  Marie  Antoinette,  Charlotte 
Corday,  Danton,  Robespierre,  and  others,  num- 
bering over  2800  victims,  suffered   death  by  the 


AJ?C  DE    TRIOMPHE.  335 

guillotine  from  1793  to  1795.  The  beautiful 
obelisk  of  Luxor,  broucrht  from  Egypt  by  Louis 
Philippe,  and  erected  in  its  present  place  in 
1836,  stands  on  the  spot  where  the  guillotine 
did  its  cruel  work.  It  is  seventy-six  feet  high, 
weighs  240  tons,  and  is  covered  with  Egyptian 
characters.  Fountains  send  forth  ceaselessly  their 
silvery  spray. 

The  Arc  de  Triomphe  in  the  Place  de  I'Etoile 
owes  its  existence  to  Napoleon  I,  who  ordered  its 
erection  in  1806  to  celebrate  French  victories.     It 
is  the  finest  triumphal   arch  in   existence,  and  is 
two  miles  from  the  Palais  Royal,  on  an  eminence, 
and  from  which  radiate  twelve  beautiful  avenues. 
It  is  160  feet  high,  and  the  principal  arch  is  90 
feet  high.     There  are  various  groups  of  colossal 
statuary,  with  Fame  surmounting  all,  and  History 
is  recording  his  deeds.     Large   halls   in  the   in- 
terior are  reached  by  winding  staircases.     From 
the  summit  there  is  a  magnificent  view  of  Paris. 
Other  places  of  surpassing  interest  were  visited, 
including  the  Palace  of  the  Elysee,  the  official  res- 
idence   of   the   French    president,    and    Champs- 
Elysees,  the  latter  being  one  of  the  most  charming 
avenues  on  earth,  and  which  extends  from  the  Arc 
de  Triomphe  to  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  or  a 
mile    and  a  third.     Its  driveways  are  lined  with 
trees,  while  upon  one  side  are  fine  buildings,  and 
on  the  other  the  Palais  de  I'lndustrie,  the  scene  of 
the  Exhibition  of  1855. 


336 


NEW  OPERA   tiOVSE. 


The  new  Opera  House,  in  its  costliness  and  ele- 
gance, surpasses  any  other  in  the  world.    The  site 

and  structure  cost 
some  nine  and  one 
quarter  millions  of 
dollars.  It  was  be- 
eun  in  1861,  fin- 
ished  in  1874,  and 
covers  nearly  three 
acres,  but  only  has 
seats  for  2156  peo- 
ple. The  building 
seems  too  low  for 
its  size,  and  the  exterior  has  received  the  most 
costly  ornamentation.  All  Europe  has  been  laid 
under  contribution  to  supply  the  various  kinds  of 
marble  used  in  its  construction. 

The  interior,  for  richness  of  design  and  beauty, 
baffles  description.  Its  statues,  its  grand  stair- 
case with  steps  of  white  marble,  the  colored  mar- 
ble columns,  the  frescoes  of  the  ceiling,  the  groups 
of  bronze  figures,  with  the  theatre  itself  elabo- 
rately decorated,  with  its  four  tiers  of  boxes,  and 
the  whole  filled  with  well  dressed  men  and  ele- 
gantly dressed  ladies,  and  capped  by  the  gallery 
all  glinting  and  glowing  with  brightness  from  the 
many  lights,  make  a  scene  of  wondrous  loveli- 
ness; and  as  one  stands  in  the  evening  upon  the 
open  front  balcony,  and  looks  into  the  broad  and 
brilliantly  lighted  Avenue  de  I'Opera,  with  its  hur- 


u 
< 


1, 


iMUiliSJiiliLi.''  ^■■.  ':.''!    J*-i  '■■■■»iiJ' 


PALAIS  DU  TROCADERO.  337 

rying  crowds,   he  will   behold    one    of  the   most 
pleasing  sights  of  Paris. 

We  visited  the  Ecole  Militaire,  the  great  mil- 
itary training  establishment,  one  side  of  which  is 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  breadth,  and  is  magnificent 
in  appearance.  The  Champs-de-Mars,  in  close 
proximity,  was  formerly  enclosed  in  embankments 
covered  with  trees,  and  sixty  thousand  people 
aided  in  its  construction.  The  great  International 
Exposition  of  1867  was  here  holden.  The  Expo- 
sition of  1878  was  held  at  Champs-de-Mars,  with 
the  addition  of  the  heights  of  the  Trocadero, 
which  were  added  to  the  grounds.  The  small 
park  with  the  Palais,  du  Trocadero  was  then  con- 
structed. The  latter  is  an  imposing  structure  in 
the  form  of  a  crescent.  In  the  park  is  a  cascade, 
near  which  are  animals  in  bronze.  One  peculiar- 
ity of  all  works  of  art  and  statuar}'  in  Paris  is,  that 
there  is  seldom  an  object  represented  as  being  in 
repose.  It  is  always  on  the  alert, — active,  excited. 
So  the  animals  were  here  portrayed.  The  bull 
was  rampant,  with  head  thrown  up,  his  eyes  wild, 
his  feet  placed  resolutely  upon  the  earth  as  if  in 
the  act  of  rapid  motion,  and  every  muscle  in  limb 
and  body  at  its  utmost  tension.  One  tires  of 
this,  and  wishes  for  things  at  peace. 

From    many   parts    of   Paris   can   be   seen   the 

gilded  dome,  340  feet  in  height,  of  the  Hotel  des 

Invalides,   the    home   of  French  veterans,  which 

was  founded   in  1670.     Many  of  Napoleon's  old 
15* 


338 


NAPOLEON'S  LAST  SLEEP. 


soldiers  were  here  cared  for  by  France.  Of  the 
men  who  had  fought  under  the  eye  of  the  great 
emperor  and  marched  to  the  deadly  fray  to  the 
thunders  of  his  artillery,  only  two  were  here  at 
the  time  of  my  visit. 

Near  by  is  Napoleon's  tomb.     It  is  difficult  to 
understand  how  the  human   mind  could  conceive 

or  human  hands  fashion  a  more 
rare,  costly,  and  beautiful  struct- 
ure. It  is  not  flashy,  but  elegant. 
He  said,  in  his  will,  "  I  desire  that 
my  ashes  may  rest  on  the  banks 
of  the  Seine,  in  the  midst  of  the 
French  people  whom  I  have  so 

Napoleon's  Sarcophagus,    ^^g^   joved."      In   the   Centre   of  thc 

crypt  rises  the  beautiful  sarcophagus,  which  con- 
tains the  remains  of  the  emperor.  So  he  lies,  not 
as  formerly, —  * 

"  On  a  lone,  barren  isle,  where  the  wild,  roaring  billows 
Assail  the  stern  rock,  and  the  loud  tempests  roar," 

but  here  in  his  beloved  France,  in  the  heart  of 
beautiful  Paris,  in  one  of  the  most  costly  and 
magnificent  mausoleums  ever  made.  He  rests,  as 
was  his  last  desire,  on  the  banks  of  the  Seine. 

"  The  lightnings  may  flash,  and  the  loud  thunders  rattle,— 
He  heeds  not,  he  hears  not,  he 's  free  from  all  pain  ;— 
He  sleeps  his  last  sleep,  he  has  fought  his  last  battle  : 
No  sound  can  awake  him  to  glory  again." 

The  palace  and  museum  of  the  Louvre  is  the 


> 

o 


o 

< 

< 


THE  LOUVRE.  339 

brightest,  costliest  gem  in  the  crown  of  Paris,  and 
worth  "saihng  the  seas  over"  to  see.  It  is  situ- 
ated near  the  Seine,  and  the  buildings  which 
compose  it  cover  many  acres  of  ground.  They 
are  handsome  architecturally,  were  centuries  in 
building,  and  are  quadrilateral  in  form,  inclosing 
a  great  square.  The  exterior  of  the  Louvre  is 
elaborately  ornamented. 

The  site  is  said  to  have  been  an  ancient  forest 
infested  by  wolves.  The  present  building  was 
begun  by  Francis  I,  in  1541,  and  many  of  the 
subsequent  rulers  of  France  spent  vast  sums  upon 
it,  but  it  was  not  completed  till  finished  by  Louis 
Napoleon  in  1857.  Many  historical  events  are 
connected  with  the  older  part  of  it.  From  a 
window,  on  the  night  of  August  24,  1572,  the 
king,  it  is  said,  gave  a  signal  for  the  massacre  of 
the  Hueuenots :  it  was  the  commencement  of 
St.  Bartholomew's  Day.  The  older  portion  of  the 
Louvre  has  been  used  as  a  museum  since  1793. 
After  the  downfall  of  Napoleon  III,  when  Paris 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  Communists,  the  great 
library  of  90,000  volumes,  and  manuscripts  which 
were  priceless,  were  burned  by  them  on  the  night 
of  May  24,  1 87 1. 

The  interior  is  cosdy  and  beautiful,  and  its  art 
collections  surpass  those  of  any  other  museum  on 
the  continent.  Many  paintings,  from  the  most 
noted  artists  the  world  ever  had,  were  brought  to 
France    by   Napoleon   I,   after   his    brilliant  cam- 


340  PLACE  DU  CARROUSEL. 

paigns,  and  placed  In  this  museum.  Some  are 
still  there ;  and  when  the  g-uide  pointed  them  out 
to  us,  he  wittily  said, — "  Napoleon  called  them  the 
spoils  of  war :  the  people  from  whom  he  took 
them  called  it  stealing."  There  are  two  ways  of 
looking  at  a  subject.  The  museum  of  Egyptian 
curiosities  is  the  most  noted  in  Europe,  with 
translations  of  many  of  their  hieroglyphics.  Many 
of  the  relics  of  ancient  Nineveh,  unearthed  by 
Mr.  Layard,  are  in  the  Asiatic  museum.  There 
are  ancient  sculptures  of  untold  worth,  and  mod- 
ern ones  of  intrinsic  merit.  Its  picture  gallery, 
comprising  the  different  rooms,  is  in  the  aggre- 
gate more  than  a  mile  and  a  half  In  length,  and 
has  over  2,000  noted  paintings.  Visitors  wander 
through  the  great  number  of  rooms,  and  look  at 
the  wilderness  of  sculptures,  of  paintings,  and  of 
other  things  of  Indescribable  beauty  and  value, 
and  turn  away  from  them  all,  wearied  with  the 
task.  A  life  many  times  repeated  could  be  profit- 
ably spent  in  study  in  this  famous  Louvre. 

The  Place  du  Carrousel  occupies  a  portion  of 
the  open  space  between  the  Louvre  and  the  Tuil- 
eries,  and  on  it  Is  situated  the  Arc  de  Triomphe 
du  Carrousel,  erected  by  order  of  Napoleon  I  to 
commemorate  his  victories  of  1805-6. 

The  Palace  of  the  Tuileries,  the  abode  of  the 
rulers  of  France,  begun  in  1564,  was  burned  by 
the  Communists  in  1871,  and  the  ruins  were 
removed  in  1883  ;  but  the  vacant  spot  Is  offensive 


Q 
< 

o 

Q 
< 


O 

Pi 

in 

l-H 
< 

< 


PALAIS-ROYAL.  34I 

to  the  view,  and  many  things  reminded  me  of 
entering-  a  home  from  which  the  master  had  been 
a  long  time  absent.  The  gardens  of  the  Tuileries 
still  retain  their  pristine  beauty,  and  are  a  popular 
promenade.  There  are  playing  fountains,  statues, 
and  trees  to  delight  and  please  the  people. 

Every  one  visits  the  Palais  Royal.  It  has  been 
a  residence  of  royalty  since  1629,  when  it  was 
presented  to  Louis  XIII  by  Cardinal  Richelieu, 
by  whom  it  was  erected.  It  has  been  the  place  of 
carnivals  and  bloody  dramas.  It  suffered  in  the 
revolutions  of  1848,  and  from  the  Communists  in 
187 1.  From  this  locality  the  people  went  forth  to 
the  destruction  of  the  Bastile  in  the  first  French 
Revolution.  It  was  the  home  of  Lucien  Bona- 
parte after  Napoleon's  return  from  Elba,  and  at 
another  time  the  home  of  Louis  Philippe,  and  in 
later  years  the  residence  of  Prince  Napoleon  till 
the  downfall  of  the  Empire.  The  buildings  com- 
pletely surround  the  Palais  Royal  gardens,  which 
are  a  most  lovely  retreat.  Here  the  people  con- 
gregate, and  walk  and  chat  and  rest  beneath  the 
shade-trees  and  by  the  beautiful  fountains.  In  the 
Palais-Royal  are  various  restaurants.  The  shops 
surrounding  the  park  or  gardens  are  extremely 
fascinating,  being  filled  with  diamonds  and  other 
articles  so  rich  and  attractive  as  to  tempt  the  pur- 
chaser. The  galleries  and  shops  have  the  finest 
and  most  brilliant  display  of  gems  to  be  found, 
in  so  small  a  space,  upon  the  planet. 


342 


PLACE  DE   LA   BASTILE. 


In  the  Place  de  la  Bastile  is  the  site  of  the 
prison  of  the  Bastile,  destroyed  by  the  Parisians 
in  their  fury,  July  14,  1789.  It  answered  well  its 
purpose   as    a  place   of   imprisonment   for   those 

objectionable  to  royalty.  It 
fell,  and  Lafayette  presented 
the  key  to  Washington  ;  and 
it  is  kept  in  the  Washington 
mansion  at  Mount  Vernon. 
The  beautiful  Colonne  de 
Juillet  now  adorns  the  Place. 
It  is  154  feet  high.  The 
Wi-''~rim<^prri^-^-^ye--wW  fluted  column  is  of  brass, 
^^^^^S^^^^^^^^^^^^  3-i^d  IS  13  leet  m  thickness. 

Colonne  de  Juillet.        It     is     erected     in     honor    of 

those  who  fell  on  that  memorable  day,  and  is 
engraved  with  615  names.  The  column  is  crowned 
with  the  figure  of  the  Genius  of  Liberty. 

The  cemetery  of  Pere-la- Chaise  is  the  most 
beautiful  place  of  burial  in  Paris,  and  covers  no 
acres.  There  are  20,000  monuments,  and  it  is 
adorned  with  a  great  number  of  small  chapels. 
They  stand  over  graves,  and  are  large  enough  to 
hold  two  or  more  persons  with  chairs,  and  an  altar 
with  a  crucifix.  The  last  offerings  of  love  and 
devotion  are  brought  here,  and  here  friends  weep 
over  their  dead.  Many  illustrious  children  of 
France  rest  here.  Honored  in  life,  they  are  not 
forgotten  in  death.  Here  rest  the  illustrious 
Thiers,  Marshal  Macdonald,   Madame  de   Genlis, 


F"''ilW^^ 


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c 


L) 


O 


THE   GRAVE   OF  NEY.  343 

Marshal  Ney,  and  hosts  of  others  known  to  fame. 
To  me  there  was  no  more  interesting  place  than 
the  grave  of  Marshal  Ney,  "  the  bravest  of  the 
brave,"  who  led  the  "Old  Guard"  in  the  final 
charge  for  Napoleon  and  the  Empire  at  Waterloo. 
An  iron  fence  surrounds  the  spot,  but  there  is  no 
monument.  The  green  grass  gently  waved  in  the 
bright  sunlight  as  I  stood  there.  He  loved  France, 
the  Empire,  and  Napoleon,  and  was  shot  as  a 
traitor  to  the  Bourbon  government.  He  died  an 
ignominious  death,  but  is  beloved  and  honored  by 
France. 

"You  may  break,  you  may  shatter  the  vase  if  you  will, 
But  the  scent  of  the  roses  will  hang  round  it  still." 

In  visiting  Versailles,  we  were  taken  in  a  large 
carriage,  which  was  filled  with  a  pleasant  company 
and  drawn  by  four  horses,  and  under  the  charge 
of  an  excellent  guide.  We  passed  through  the 
Bois  de  Bologne,  a  park  of  2,250  acres,  which  is 
bounded  by  the  fortifications  of  Paris.  It  pos- 
sesses artificial  lakes  and  cascades  of  considerable 
extent,  and  is  a  favorite  resort  of  the  Parisians. 
Crossing  the  river,  we  entered  St.  Cloud,  which 
suffered  greatly  during  the  Franco-Prussian  war. 
The  palace  of  St.  Cloud  was  burned,  and  it  is 
now  in  ruins.  It  was  built  in  1572,  rebuilt  in 
1658,  and  was  purchased  in  1782  by  Louis  XVI 
for  Marie  Antoinette.  It  was  a  favorite  summer 
residence  of  the  late  emperor.  The  park,  with  its 
gardens,  its  grand  old  trees,  and  its  fountains,  is  a 


344  •^^-  CLOUD. 

place  of  beauty,  and  attracts  a  great  number  of 
visitors.  We  passed  through  the  forest  of  Ville 
d'Avray,  and  reached  Versailles,  a  city  of  nearly 
50,000  people,  which  is  a  disagreeable  place.  The 
palace  and  park,  with  all  their  attractions  and  his- 
tory, draw  multitudes  of  people  there. 

Our  visit  was  to  the  wonderful  palace  built  by 
Louis  XIV,  which  is  a  monument  to  his  pride,  ex- 
travagance, and  arbitrary  will.  The  world  has  sel- 
dom seen  such  magnificence  as  is  here  displayed. 
The  cost  exceeded  $200,000,000,  and  no  less  than 
36,000  men,  with  a  proportionate  number  of  teams, 
were  employed  at  one  time  in  the  building  of  the 
terraces.  This  vast  expense,  with  the  cruel  wars 
of  Louis  XIV,  drained  the  resources  of  France, 
and  prepared  the  way  for  the  first  French  revolu- 
tion. The  palace  was  completed  in  1681,  and 
became  the  residence  of  the  king.  The  court  was 
permanently  established  here  in  1682.  Louis  XIV 
died,  and  Louis  XV  was  born,  reigned,  and  died, 
here.  Louis  XVI  lived  part  of  his  unhappy  reign 
in  the  palace,  and  saw  it  sacked  by  a  mob  of  many 
thousands.  It  was  a  manufactory  of  arms  in  1795, 
was  neglected  by  Napoleon  I,  and  pillaged  by  the 
Parisians  in  18 15.  It  was  occupied  by  Louis  XVIII 
and  Charles  X,  and  would  have  been  occupied  by 
Louis  Philippe,  except  for  the  vast  expense  in 
keeping  it  up;  so  he  turned  it  into  a  museum 
or  historical  gallery,  dedicated  to  all  the  glories 
of  France.      It  became  the  head-quarters  of  the 


w. 

> 


in 


< 


< 

w 
o 


PALACE   OF   VERSAILLES.  345 

Prussians  in  1870  and  1871,  and  a  portion  of  the 
palace  was  used  as  a  hospital.  Kaiser  William 
was  crowned  Emperor  of  Germany  in  it,  January 
18,  187 1,  and  later  the  National  Assembly  of 
France,  as  representative  of  the  Republic,  here 
held  its  sittings.  Truly,  strange  events  have 
occurred  here,  which  would  have  startled  the  soul 
of  Louis  XIV,  could  he  have  foreseen  them.  We 
were  shown  the  apartments  of  Marie  Antoinette, 
of  Napoleon  I,  and  of  the  Empress  Josephine. 

The  Musee  Historique,  founded  by  Louis  Phi- 
lippe, with  its  long  suites  of  apartments,  is  lined 
with  paintings,  and  many  are  celebrated  works  of 
art.  In  the  aggregate  there  are  nearly  five  miles 
of  pictures,  and  many  of  them  are  battle  scenes. 
There  are  rooms  filled  with  portraits  of  celebrated 
Frenchmen. 

There  are  eleven  rooms  in  the  gallery  of  the  His- 
tory of  France,  and  paintings  illustrating  histor- 
ical events  from  1797  to  1835,  mostly  battle  scenes. 

The  Grande  Galerie  of  Louis  XIV,  finely  dec- 
orated, is  of  great  length,  width,  and  height,  and 
commands  a  view  of  ponds  and  gardens.  The 
pictures  upon  the  ceiling,  of  great  beauty,  repre- 
sent the  achievements  of  the  king. 

The  Galerie  des  Batailles,  a  hall  396  feet  long 
and  42  in  width,  contains  busts  of  eighty  noted 
generals  who  have  fallen  in  battle,  with  their 
names  on  tablets;  and,  also,  thirty-three  great 
paintings    by    modern    artists,    all    battle    scenes. 


34^  GARDENS  OF   VERSAILLES. 

Among  them  is  the  siege  of  Yorktown,  Va.,  con- 
ducted by  Generals  Rochambeau  and  Washington. 
So  one  passes  from  one  great  gallery  to  another, 
all  filled  with  statues  and  portraits  of  noted  per- 
sons in  different  callings,  and  with  paintings  of 
the  conflicts  of  war. 

The  Galerie  de  TEmpire  contains  thirteen  rooms 
devoted  to  the  campaigns  of  Napoleon,  and  from 
1796  to  1 8 10. 

The  gardens  of  Versailles,  back  of  the  pal- 
ace, are  most  magnificent.  There  are  artificial 
lakes,  many  statues,  trees,  and  fountains,  and  in 
the  summer  1200  orange  trees  adorn  the  grounds. 
It  would  be  difficult  for  any  pen  to  do  justice  to 
all  the  beauty  of  painting,  elegance  of  statuary, 
and  grandeur  of  the  palace  and  gardens  of  Ver- 
sailles. 

On  our  return  to  Paris  we  visited  the  Institute 
of  France,  devoted  to  art,  literature,  and  science; 
and  the  Column  Vendome,  142  feet  high,  encased 
with  plates  of  brass,  to  commemorate  the  victories 
of  Napoleon,  battle  scenes  in  1805.  The  statue 
of  Ney  stands  upon  the  spot  where  he  was  shot 
as  a  traitor. 

The  Gobelins,  named  for  Jean  Gobelin,  who 
commenced  the  business  centuries  ago,  is  the 
state  manufactory  of  carpets  and  tapestries,  where 
the  artist  workman  works  for  years  on  a  single 
piece,  and  weaves  into  it  elegant  copies  of  the 
rarest  pictures. 


PALACE   OF   THE  LUXEMBOURG.  347 

The  Palace  of  the  Luxembourg  was  formerly  a 
royal  residence.  Its  gardens  are  filled  with  stat- 
uary. The  newly  erected  Hotel  de  Ville  takes 
the  place  of  the  one  destroyed  by  the  Commune, 
and  is  a  magnificent  structure. 

My  stay  in  Paris  drew  to  an  end.  I  was  pleased 
with  the  gay,  cheerful  manners  of  the  Parisians, 
but  seriously  question  whether  they  possess  more 
than  other  people  that  true  politeness  which  comes 
from  the  heart. 

It  is  not  a  wonder  that  the  French  are  a  war- 
like people.  Nearly  every  monument,  painting, 
statue,  and  sculpture  illustrates  battle  scenes.  All 
is  of  the  florid  order.  Their  pictures  and  sculp- 
tures represent  the  object  on  the  alert,  never  in 
repose.  Seldom  are  the  triumphs  of  peace  por- 
trayed or  celebrated.  Of  this  state  of  things  one 
tires,  and  is  thankful  that  there  is  a  land  across 
the  sea  where  the  triumphs  of  peace  are  more 
honored  than  the  horrors  of  victorious  war. 

It  was  delightful  to  be  in  London  again.  Soon 
after  my  arrival  it  was  with  great  pleasure  that  I 
met  a  friend  from  Washington,  D.  C.  Having 
decided  upon  the  ship  and  the  day  of  sailing  for 
the  United  States,  my  stay  in  London  was  short. 
A  hurried  run  was  made  to  Oxford,  where  I  saw, 
as  Lowell  has  said,  "those  gray  seclusions  of  the 
college  quadrangles  and  cloisters  ^'  *  which  are 
conscious  with  venerable  associations,  and  where 
the  very  stones    seem   happier  for   being  there. 


148 


OXFORD. 


The  chapel  pavement  still  whispered  with  the 
blessed  feet  of  that  long  procession  of  saints  and 
sages,  and  scholars  and  poets,  who  are  gone  into 
a  world  oi  licrht,  but  whose  memories  seem  to 
consecrate  the  soul  from  all  ignoble  companion- 
ship." 

From  Oxford  to  Stratford-on-Avon  is  not  a  long 
way.     At    Shakespeare's    town,  a    quiet,    cleanly 

place,  my  stay  was 
a  nio'ht  and  a  day, 
regfisterino  at  the 
Shakespeare  hotel, 
near  the  spot  where 

Shakespeare's  Birthplace.  the      poet     lived     the 

last  nineteen  years  of  his  life.  On  Henly  street 
is  the  poet's  birthplace,  where  he  first  saw  the 
light  April  23,  1564.  It  is  unpretentious  in  ap- 
pearance. Above  is  the  room  where  he  was  born, 
and  which  fronts  the 
street.  There  are 
relics  of  the  poet  still 
here.  Leaving  this 
spot  so  full  of  the  as- 
sociations of  the  past. 
I  wended  my  way 
through  the  green 
fields  and  lanes  to 
the  Hathawav  cottao^e,  it  being  the  same  beaten 
track  that  Shakespeare  took  when  he  went  to  woo 
and  win  his  beloved  Anne  Hathaway.     It  is  an 


Hathaway  Cottage. 


SHAKESPEARE'S  HOME. 


349 


humble  dwelling,  long  and  low.  with  a  thick, 
thatched  roof.  Up  a  winding  stair  is  the  room 
where  she  was  born.  There  are  objects  of  family 
interest,  such  as  a 
car\'ed  oaken  bed- 
stead, a  spinning- 
wheel,  and  other 
articles.  There  is 
the  open  fireplace, 
with  the  rude  seat 
at  one  side,  where 
Shakespeare   and 

A^     ^  „  <.       „  „  J  Strj\.tford-on-Avon. 

nne    sat,    and 

where  he  told  her  the  "old,  old  stor)-,"  so  old,  yet 
ever  new.  In  the  visitors'  book,  among  the  cele- 
brated names,  were  those  of  our  beloved  Long- 
fellow and  Gen.  Grant. 

Our  way  wended  to  the  Stratford  church,  on  the 
bank  of  the  River  Avon, — that  Avon 
"which  to  the  Severn  runs."  Passing 
throueh  a  lovelv  orrove  of  trees,  the 
church  was  entered.  The  daily  re- 
ligious ser\ace  was  in  progress,  which 
was  witnessed  to  its  conclusion,  when 
a  guide  appeared,  and  a  fee  was  paid 
him  before  we  could  go  over  all  of 
the  sacred  enclosure.  Extremely 
interestinor  in  itself,  the  fact  that 
Shakespeare's  bones  are  here  makes  it  famous 
forever.     There  is  the  monument  to  the  greatest 


Monument. 


350 


CHESTER. 


poet  of  all  time,  represented  in  the  act  of  writing, 
his  left  hand  resting  upon  manuscript,  while  his 
right  holds  a  quill  pen.  There  is  the  inscription 
beneath, — 

"  In  judgment  a  Nestor,  in  genius  a  Socrates,  in  art  a  Virgil ; 
The  earth  covers  him,  the  people  mourn  him,  Olympus  has  him." 

Near  by  is  his  grave,  covered  by  a  flat  stone  with 
the  celebrated  inscription  upon  it  reciting  Shake- 
speare's curse  on  him  who  should  disturb  his  rest. 
Chester  is  a  rare,  quaint,  ancient,  wall-begirt 
town.  Over  this  old  defence  of  the  place  I  went, 
having  many  views  of  the  rare  old  city,  and  stood 

in  Phenix Tower, 
where  Charles  I 
saw  the  defeat  of 
his  army  at  Raw- 
chester.  ton   Moor,  Sep- 

tember 27,  1645.  Very  odd  are  the  streets, 
houses,  everything  in  the  place.  It  was  my 
pleasure  here  to  examine  my  last  cathedral  in 
Europe.     They  had  become  monotonous. 

At  the  North-Western  hotel,  in  Liverpool,  I  had 
the  accidental  pleasure  of  meeting  two  English 
friends,  one  from  the  north  of  England,  the  other 
from  London.  The  hour  of  departure  was  at 
hand  ;  the  good  ship  Berlin  was  ready  to  sail ;  and 
bidding  friends  and  "  Merrie  England"  farewell, 
I  stepped  aboard,  with  my  face  toward  the  declin- 
ing sun.  A  prosperous  voyage  brought  us  to 
New  York. 


JOURNEY  ENDED.  35  I 

The  journey  was  ended.  I  had  seen  many  per- 
sons whom  it  was  a  privilege  to  see  and  to  know. 
I  returned  with  my  love  for  my  country  greatly 
quickened  and  strengthened.  She  has  no  ancient 
cathedrals,  the  expense  of  whose  uprearing  was 
wrung  from  an  oppressed  people.  She  has  no 
king  or  emperor,  nobility  or  privileged  classes,  but 
she  has  that  which  is  much  better  :  she  has  a  wise 
and  beneficent  government  "of  the  people,  by  the 
people,  and  for  the  people,"  the  freest  and  best  on 
earth  ;  she  has  a  wide  domain,  of  great  resources 
and  wealth  ;  and  the  fault  is  in  Americans  them- 
selves if  they  are  not  a  happy  and  prosperous 
people.  The  future  is  big  with  hope,  radiant  with 
promise.  Every  American  has  reason  for  grati- 
tude that  his  home  is  beneath  American  skies, 
and  that  over  him  is  the  protecting  banner  of  the 
wise  and  great  Republic. 


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